St. Charles overcomes early deficit to exact revenge over St. Martinville

It took a while for St. Charles Catholic to shake off the travel after a bus trip Friday.

After a slow start, the Comets turned it on to pull away from St. Martinville 43-15 to avenge a 35-25 loss last October 14 at home to the Tigers.

That was the last loss suffered by St. Charles Catholic, which went on to win a second consecutive Select Division III state championship. The Comets have now won 14 straight games.

The Comets defense shut down the Tigers in the second half and the Comets got rolling on offense.

St. Charles Catholic jumped on top on a 27-yard run by Skylar Edwards to take an 8-0 lead with 6:52 to play in the opening quarter after a successful 2-point conversion.

St. Martinville responded and tied the game 8-8 on a 2-yard run by Steven Blanco and a 2-point conversion with 3:33 to play in the opening quarter.

The Tigers took a 15-8 lead when Kaden Zenon capped a drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:14 to play in the first half.

That’s when the vaunted special teams of the Comets turned the game around as the Comets scored 35 unanswered points.

Kaden Foster returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 15-15 with 9:01 to play in the half.

The Comets took the lead for good when Brady St. Pierre hit Brandon Kragle with a 46-yard touchdown pass to make it 22-15 with 5:02 to play in the first half and that was the halftime score.

St. Charles Catholic owned the second half, taking advantage of outstanding field position. The average starting field position for the Comets in the second half was starting at their own 47-yard line.

The visitors took the lead, 22-15, when St. Pierre connected with Jackson Monica on a 2-yard touchdown pass to expand the lead to 29-15 with 6:13 to play in the third quarter.

The Comets put it away in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard touchdown run by Edwards and a one-yard score by St. Pierre.

St. Charles Catholic rushed for 237 yards, including 12 rushes for 125 yards and two touchdowns by Edwards. Jeremiah Wills had 16 rushes for 90 yards. Kragle had three catches for 76 yards and a score.

Blanco led St. Martinville with 21 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown while Zenon completed 10-of-20 passes for 167 yards. Charles had five catches for 118 yards.

Was the loss last year to the Tigers motivation this time around?

“I don’t know about the players but it was for the coaches,” St. Charles Catholic coach Wayne Stein said. “That was the last team to beat St. Charles Catholic. We felt like it was the last one to scratch off and avenge. We played without nine starters last year. We’re as healthy as we can be right now. Once we got our sea legs under us, we played at a different level.”

Trailing 15-8, Kaden Foster returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 15-15 with 9:01 to play in the second quarter.

“The kick return was big,” Stein said. “We played poorly in the first half and St. Martinville had a lot to do with that. We knew they would make some plays. We just had to make more than them. Their skill guys are as good as we have faced all year. In the second half, we raised our play to another level. Our offense took over in the second half as well and our defense did the job.

St. Charles Catholic (7-0) will play Martin Luther King Charter next Thursday night. St. Martinville (2-5) will play at Kaplan next Friday.