St. Charles Catholic blanks Chalmette, but Nash leaves with shoulder injury

CHALMETTE – Frank Monica’s 250th career victory as a high school head coach came at a price Friday night.

His St. Charles Catholic club dominated on both sides of the football in a 29-0 victory over Chalmette presented live by CrescentCitySports.com, but Comets’ star quarterback Lloyd Nash left the game late in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.

After the game, a despondent Monica said he believed Nash had broken his clavicle and could be out until next month. It’s the third significant injury for the Comets since the start of fall camp.

“I feel so bad for (Nash),” said Monica. “We lost our bell cow.”

Nash, a recent commitment to Nicholls, was a dominant force in the first half, capping a pair of long drives with touchdown runs of 17 and 6 yards and converting all six third downs. He rushed for 77 yards and completed 4-of-5 passes for 63 yards.
Monica credited defensive end Gavin St. Pierre for rallying his teammates after Nash’s injury.

“(St. Pierre) told them, ‘It doesn’t matter. We gotta keep playing,’” Monica said.

With Nash out, converted safety Sutton Bourgeois took over at quarterback, spelled occasionally by running back Narquez Jones operating out of SCC’s version of the Wildcat, called the Comet.

Jones was dominant in the second half, gaining 121 of his 165 yards in the third and fourth quarters, including a 5-yard touchdown run. Joe Chiarella accounted for SCC’s other touchdown on a 14-yard run in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the Comet defense held Chalmette to 195 total yards and kept the Owls out of the end zone on a pair of late threats.

Monica became the sixth active coach in Louisiana high school football and 22nd coach overall to reach the 250-win plateau. His 27-season career as a head coach has also included stops at Lutcher, Riverside and Jesuit.

That much time in the profession has given him lots to worry about – like the lack of preparation this week because of field conditions in LaPlace thanks to continued rain from Tropical Storm Harvey.

“I was scared to death how this was going to unfold,” Monica said. “We practiced in the parking lot all week.”

After Friday’s performance, practices might be in the parking lot this week as the Comets prepare for another tough Class 5A test. Destrehan visits LaPlace next Friday night.