St. Paul’s overcomes Scotlandville in overtime to reach state semifinals

A tough place to play.

A hostile environment.

A talented opponent.

The task for No. 5 St. Paul’s was a tall one Friday night at No. 4 Scotlandville.

Freshman Drew Talley booted a 20-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Wolves to an thrilling 20-17 victory over the Hornets in the Division I quarterfinals.

The Hornets appeared poised to score a big comeback win but a 20-yard field attempt by Nick Montgomery missed left under extreme pressure by Daniel Dufour, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Scotlandville missed another field goal attempt, setting the stage for Talley’s heroics.

The game was tight throughout.

After a scoreless first quarter, the two teams exchanged field goals in the second quarter before Nick Piazza scored on an 8-yard run to give St. Paul’s a 10-3 halftime lead.

Scotlandville tied it midway through the third quarter when C’Zavian Teasett tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chance Williams.

In the fourth quarter, the Wolves recaptured the lead when Dufour returned a punt 40 yards for a score to make it 17-10 but the Hornets answered on the ensuing possession with Teasett scoring from 10 yards out to tie the game 17-17, setting the stage for the frenetic finish.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on NASH ICON 106.1 FM Saturday morning, St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears had nothing but praise for his team’s effort.

“I can’t say enough about our kids, their whole approach to last night,” Sears said. “I love this group because they are so committed and play so hard. We have played great team defense all season long. Scotlandville can really stretch the field. We felt if we could hold them to 20 points or under, we would have a shot. They had a shot to win on the final play of regulation. They don’t have any quit in them. Dufour got a piece of it.”

The win places St. Paul’s in unchartered territory, in the semifinals for the first time in school history.

“It’s not the end result because we want to get to the next goal but it means so much,” Sears said. “All the years we were so close and had tough losses, this certainly is a breakthrough for the kids in the locker room, the program and our coaches and our school community.

“We had a great turnout from Wolf Nation at the game. High school football is back and in Covington at St. Paul’s, it has been an exciting year. We hope it gets more exciting. That win was for everyone.”

St. Paul’s will travel back to Baton Rouge to face top seed Catholic next Friday night. The Bears rallied past No. 8 St. Augustine 35-28.

“Our kids are just resilient,” Sears said. “They are very close as a group, especially my senior class. Sometimes, chemistry is everything. We are used to playing great programs. Our losses were to unbeaten teams (Zachary, Ponchatoula). We beat a very talented squad last night.

“We know we have our work cut out for us. We will have to prepare well. We have to try to figure a way to beat these guys. They have a lot of weapons and are well coached. Hopefully, our experiences this season will benefit us.”