Matherne looks to establish stability at St. Louis Catholic

St. Louis Catholic is looking for stability on the gridiron.

The Saints have moved on to their third head coach in five years in 2021.

Now, that new leader is determined to make his stay a long one at the Lake Charles school.

Brock Matherne enters his second season with the Saints after arriving following a stint as defensive backs coach at Cecilia.

In his first season on the job with St. Louis, Matherne guided a rebuilding team which started 10 starters at times a year ago.

The Saints finished 4-7 and lost to Vandebilt Catholic in the Division II playoffs last season.

Though it was not a successful season, there is real optimism surrounding the St. Louis Catholic going into the 2022 campaign.

An important factor for St. Louis Catholic is the return of senior quarterback James Reina (5-9, 160). In 2021, Reina completed 114 of 220 passes for 1,937 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The Saints have a superb player returning in senior wide receiver Grant Evans (6-3, 190), who had 26 catches for 562 yards and seven touchdowns a year ago. The other wide receivers are junior Trey Tate (6-1, 180) and Brooks Habetz (6-2, 170).

At running back, senior Hank Milligan (6-0, 220) packs a punch and he is joined by junior Kyle Turner (5-10, 160).

The offensive line needs new players to step up.

There are a pair of senior guards in Waylon Miller (6-0, 240) and Ty Colletta (6-2, 240). The center is junior Evan Rodericks (6-0, 180) while a pair of juniors in Jordan Davis (6-4, 290) and Jacob Fruge (6-2, 260) will start at tackle.

The defensive line features three juniors in Ethan Goss (6-0, 210), Kade Nugent (6-3, 190) and Nathan Gray (6-1, 200), along with sophomore Devin Kee (6-0, 250).

Junior linebacker Graham Montet (5-10, 190) anchors things at the second level. Montet led the Saints with 127 tackles last season. He is joined by senior John Michael Hebert (5-10, 170) and junior Luke Moore (6-2, 190).

Both safeties are seniors in Gavin Phillips (5-10, 180) and John Noah Foret (5-9, 160) while the corners are juniors Luke Pierson (5-10, 170) and Silas Deville (5-9, 160).

Junior Landon Daughdril (5-10, 170) handles both kicking and punting duties.

The schedule opens at Crowley on September 2 before road games at Iota and Vidor, Texas.

District 3-3A play begins on September 22 at home against Kinder before a trip to South Beauregard. The Saints will host Westlake before facing a tough road game at Lake Charles College Prep. A non-district game at home against South Lafourche is next. The Saints will host Iowa and close the regular season at Jennings.

With a coach now entrenched and with a more experienced team, St. Louis Catholic appears poised to have a winning season in 2022.

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