By DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
SLIDELL — On Saturday, the Riverdale Rebels defeated Salmen 48-31 to secure its best record since 2009.
Riverdale (4-4) scored on the opening kickoff when Donte Jackson took it 90 yards for a touchdown.
On Friday, Jackson received his U.S. Army All-American all-star game jersey, and he wanted to show why he was worthy of such an honor.
Jackson finished with 66 yards receiving and 86 yards rushing.
The Spartans (1-7) answered with a one-yard touchdown run by Johnny Lowery to tie it at 7-7 and minutes later Johnny Passaro hit James Lambert with a 20-yard touchdown.
Spartans quarterback Passaro hit eight receivers en route to passing for 301 yards.
But Riverdale came right as running back Andre Sims returned a blocked punt for a 40-yard touchdown and moments later scored on a four-yard touchdown run.
Lowery scored again for Salmen taking it into the end zone from three yards out.
Riverdale came right back when running back Darius Bovie scored from one yard out with 31 seconds left in the first half.
The scoring continued in the second half when Riverdale quarterback Christian Smith hit Tedric White for a 22- yard touchdown and Rebel defensive lineman Tyrus Butler scored on a one-yard run.
The Rebels scored their final touchdown when Smith hit Bovie with an 85-yard touchdown pass that upped the Rebel margin to 48-19.
“I’m really proud of these kids and how they played today,” Riverdale coach Brett Bonnaffons said. “If we win we’re in the playoffs. So I’m grateful for that and this total team effort. We wanted to put he ball in the hands of our play makers and we did that.”
The Spartans showed a ton of heart scoring two more touchdowns to close the final gap to 17 points.
Passer found Robert Hayes for a 46-yard touchdown with 1:31 left in the third quarter and later threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Lowery with just over three minutes left in regulation.
“Coming into the game we knew what was on the line, but we just didn’t get it done,” Salmen coach Jerry Leonard said. “We had to have a win, and we came up short. We tried to contain Jackson, but he is a great athlete and it showed. He made us pay for our special teams mistakes.”