Comets seek first 3A title

    Blue and gold will be the color of a section of the Superdome stands on Dec. 10 when he St. Charles Catholic Comets attempt to win their first Class 3A football championship against Southeast Louisiana neighbor Amite. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.
    St. Charles Catholic made it to the finals in 2005 and 2006 but lost both times to John Curtis as a Class 2A competitor. The Comets reached the semifinals in 2009 and 2010 but lost again. As the No. 2 seed, coach Frank Monica hopes to finally get past that final hurdle by defeating the Warriors.
    Monica, who won a Class 3A title at Lutcher in 1978, has turned the Comets into a scoring machine with and without their top running backs during the latter part of the season.
    Marcus Hall suffered a broken arm against Port Allen but returned to play on defense with a soft cast over his wrist in the quarterfinal round win over Rayne. Last week against Parkview Baptist, Hall saw a lot of action in the offensive backfield.
    But the team’s leading rusher and scorer, senior back Lazedrick Thompson (1,322 yards, 160 points) has a more serious injury – a partial ACL tear – and has been out of action for nearly a month.
    Unbeaten in 14 games, St. Charles has been able to prevail despite the personnel setbacks because of its large line and senior quarterback Donnie Savoie, who has completed 64 percent of his passes for nearly 2,000 yards and capable reserve players.
    Amite (12-1) has to stop not only this tandem, which averaged 45 points per game, but try to move the ball on a defense that allowed just 25 total points during the regular season.
    Monica presented a dilemma for opposing coaches throughout the season, both on offense and on defense. Few teams could score on a stingy Comets’ defense, and no one was able to stop their offense. The coach prepared his team for every game by convincing the players their next opponent was better than the last, regardless of record. And it worked, as St. Charles blew past No. 31 seed Kaplan, 49-6, in the bi-district playoff round.
    Previously undefeated Patterson was No. 2 on the Louisiana Sports Writers’ Top 10 poll behind the Comets throughout the year, but drew only a No. 15 seed. While most observers were expecting a close, hard-fought struggle, St. Charles again won easily, 31-6. They beat No. 26 Rayne, which had upset two higher seeds, 52-24, on the road in the quarterfinals, then booted a late field goal to gain a come-from-behind victory over the defending Class 3A champion and No. 11 seed Parkview Baptist, 24-21, to set up this title game.
    Amite seems to have improved with every win since a Sept. 9 loss at Ponchatoula. The Warriors outscored their five district mates, 192-32, then continued their dominance during the playoffs. They defeated No. 29 North Vermilion, 34-6, in bi-district play; Westlake, 22-13, on the road in the regional round, and McMain, 29-6, at home in the quarterfinals. Last week the Warriors’ outstanding defense held Marksville to one score in a convincing 30-6 victory.