St. Thomas More runs past St. Michael to open playoffs

Lafayette, La. – St. Thomas More, the defending II state champions, cruised past St. Michael, 48-9, to open the playoffs Friday night.

The Cougars amassed 366 yards rushing, and Chris Primeaux lead the way with 185 yards including a 93-yard touchdown for the first points of the night.

St. Michael responded with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Kade Stuart to Kyle Segalla at the end of the opening quarter, cutting the lead to 7-6 after a blocked point-after try.

From that point, it was all Cougars.

St. Thomas More took over the past three periods outscoring the Warriors 41-3.

“We got our minds a little more focused on the ballgame after the first quarter,” said STM coach Jim Hightower. “We got a little sloppy on tackling in the one drive where they scored, but it was a fantastic defensive effort. Our running backs did a nice job finding seams.”

Syndey Linden returned after missing four weeks due to injury to rush for 106 yards and a score. William Cryer added 57 yards and a touchdown.

STM will host a familiar foe next week. Parkview Baptist, a foe in the past two Division II State Championship games, comes to campus Friday night.

Hightower, the second all-time winningest coach in Louisiana high school football history behind only J.T. Curtis, notched his first state championship a year ago, 54-29, against Parkview.

Expect emotions and spirits to be high for round three.

STM 48 StM 9

Scoring Summary
Primeaux 93 yd TD STM 7-0
Stuart to Segalla 55 yds STM 7-6
Primeaux 1 yard STM 14-6
Holstein to Moncla 28 yd STM 21-6
Cryer 44 yard run STM 28-6
Segalla 28 yard FG STM 28-9
Robertson 31 yd FG STM 31-9
Holstein 1 yard STM 38-9
Linden 2 yard STM 45-9
Robertson 36 yd FG STM 48-9