St. Charles Catholic overcomes enormous odds to reach another state title game

There are players who have not returned to damaged homes from Hurricane Ida.

There are coaches who have dealt with damaged homes as well.

There was damage to equipment and to uniforms.

There was the loss of power points and at least one seed and a home semifinal game in the playoffs due to forfeits by De La Salle, whom the Comets defeated.

There was the challenge of not having a legendary coach running the show anymore.

The obstacles placed in the way of St. Charles Catholic in the 2021 season have been plentiful and enormous.

It has taken plenty of courage and an enormous effort and determination to succeed for the Comets to put forth a brilliant season-long performance in a brilliant season.

The result is that St. Charles Catholic is back in the Division III state championship game for a third straight year and for the seventh time since 2005.

Ida did her deal to LaPlace and the surrounding areas and it was hard to look at, much less live in.

Legendary former coach Frank Monica, for whom the field is now named after at Thomas Dupuy Stadium, had his home flooded.

It is being repaired.

So are the other homes.

So was the stadium.

There was no time for the young men and coaches impacted to get caught up in sulking in the repair job at hand on a personal level.

Both were laser focused on first, being able to have a football season and second, to uphold the excellence that is St. Charles Catholic football.

That has been done in marvelous fashion.

The third-seeded Comets are unbeaten at 10-0 and set to battle the top-seeded, four-time defending state champion Lafayette Christian Knights at 2 p.m. Saturday at Yulman Stadium in a game that you can listen to on NASH ICON 106.1 FM, nashfm1061.com and the TuneIn app.

St. Charles Catholic has been remarkable on defense, allowing just 3.4 points per game and pitching seven shutouts.

The Knights have beaten the Comets in the state title game 41-14 in 2019 in Lafayette and 12-7 in 2020 at Natchitoches.

This time, the game is in New Orleans.

Rest assured, St. Charles Catholic will be wearing it’s black uniform.

It is the only uniform which survived the storm.

“It’s the only uniform we have a full set of,” Stein said. “I replaced a legend in Coach Monica. It really is amazing, everything our community has gone through. I think football has kind of been that normalcy for them. The football part has really been unbelievable. I don’t think people really realized how bad LaPlace was. It was ground zero for the storm. As many as 65 to 70 of our players are not living in their homes. People have reached out to us. You really get to see how great humanity is.”

Stein remembers last year’s loss to LCA well.

“That’s the type of game that we have to play and it’s the type of game that we can win,” Stein said. “We’re not going to a shootout. That’s not who we are. Really, the script, besides the first three minutes of the game when we gave up an 80-yard touchdown on the first play and our offense turned it over and we held them to a field goal and trailed 10-0 was a good one. We settled down. We scored seven points on defense. That’s the only way to beat Lafayette Christian.

While the Knights are gifted, the LCA coaching staff does a great job.

“They are extremely talented and extremely well coached,” Stein said. “I don’t think their coaching staff gets enough credit. Trev Faulk and those guys really coach those guys up. Two years ago, we really got blown away. I don’t think you really know what you are getting into until you play them. Last year, there was more familiarity. Hopefully, this year, we will give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. They have great players and their staff puts them in position to make a lot of plays.”

The Comets must win on defense and win in the kicking game to have a shot an the upset. Either way, it has been a special season under special circumstances for St. Charles Catholic.

“We’re not afraid to win ugly,” Stein said. “That’s who we are. We are where we expected to be. We have a very good football team. Our kids have handled it so well,” Stein said. “I couldn’t be prouder to be there coach.”

A proud community has much to be proud of, regardless of the outcome Saturday, on and off the field.