St. Charles Catholic rebounds with win over M.L. King Charter

It has been a challenging season for St. Charles Catholic. Facing a brutal schedule and facing a slew of key injuries, games have produced a weekly grind for the Comets.

By season’s end, you can bet the Comets will be a factor, if not a force, in the Division III playoffs.

St. Charles Catholic rebounded from a tough loss to St. Martinville with a 23-6 home victory Friday night at Dupuy Stadium in LaPlace over Martin Luther King Charter in the District 10-2A opener for both teams.

On the opening drive, Davon Sturgis capped things off with an 8-yard touchdown run to give St. Charles Catholic a 7-0 lead.

Brady St. Pierre then hit Brandon Kragle with a 38-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-0 after a missed extra point.

Marcus Robinson cut the deficit to 13-6 by halftime with a 4-yard touchdown run.

After a scoreless third quarter, Tyler Milioto gave the Comets some breathing room with a 20-yard field goal to make it 16-6.

St. Charles Catholic put the game away on a 40-yard interception return for a score by Rashawn Hillaire to account for the final margin.

Sturgis keyed the Comets offensively with 25 rushes for 117 yards and a score.

Speaking on Ken Trahan’s Original Prep Football Report on NASH ICON 106.1 FM, St. Charles Catholic coach Wayne Stein admitted that the season has been tough to navigate.

“It was tough sledding,” Stein said. “M.L. King had a good plan. Our kids played a little better in the second half. Our kids stuck to the plan and we got better and better. We’re not going to take winning for granted. We’re starting to get healthy and we hope that carries over next week.”

The schedule has been a huge challenge for the Comets.

“It’s been the loss of players that has hurt most,” Stein said. “We had nine starers sitting on the sideline last week against St. Martinville. I hope we continue to get healthier and better and we can be someone to contend with in the playoffs.”

The Comets have Country Day and Newman remaining in regular season district play.

“There’s no time to take a breathe,” Stein said. “It’s exciting for the fans, the coaches and the kids. You start to see the kids break down a bit physically. It hasn’t been pretty but I do think our kids know how to win.”

St. Charles Catholic (5-3, 1-0) returns to district play next Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Country Day.

M.L. King (6-2, 0-1) will take on Newman next Friday night in league action.

“We are coming together,” Stein said. “You always want to be playing your best heading into the playoffs. We are getting there.”