LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / September 13, 1999

LAPLACE – Nick Monica piled up 169 of St. Charles Catholic’s 219 rushingyards and three touchdowns to roast the Fighting Irish of Grace King, 29- 14, Friday night.

Meanwhile, Grace King’s scoring only came up in the second half after trailing 22-0 at mid-game.

The win was Frank Monica’s first as head coach of the Comets.

Opening blood was drawn inside of two minutes after the opening kickoff to the Comets, as Monica ate up 44 yards on the first touchdown run in the third play from scrimmage. A two-point conversion run by Toby Jacobbumped the tally to 8-0.

That was the sole scoring in the first quarter, as the teams lurched up and down the field, with short punts and penalties hampering their efforts.

After Monica’s touchdown, Grace King took the ball from their own 31- yard line to gain only 14 yards before punting. The Comets launched fromtheir own 45-yard stripe after a holding call before giving up the ball on downs.

Grace King managed to penetrate as far as the Comet 38 before punting again, but the Comets started at their own 14 and only struggled to their 22 before kicking yet again.

The next Irish possession carried into the second period, and ended at the St. Charles 9-yard stripe, where the Comet defense held firm and tookover possession on downs.

After an ineffective series, the punt to the Irish was fumbled by the receiver and Randy Madere snagged the loose ball. The Irish contined tocripple their own efforts with a series of penalty calls, including pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct, which carried the Comets down to the Grace King 11-yard line.

Another an Irish encroachment penalty edged the ball to the Grace King 6, a 22-yard field goal attempt flew wide right with 6:57 remaining in the first half.

Grace King took back possession at their own 20 and Ivory Robinson was the workhorse, carrying for five consecutive plays to the St. Charles 20-yard line, including a 23-yard carry.

What might have turned into a momentum-building touchdown, though, was spoiled by a fumble, snagged by Comet Mike Duhe at the St. Charles 19-yard line with 4:35 remaining in the half.

Three plays later, a 60-yard pass play to Phillip Hoffman resulted in the second St. Charles touchdown with 2:58 on the clock. A Jacob point afterbrought the score to 15-0.

The Comets took over at the Grace King 44 on their next possession after the 10-yard punt return. With Monica at the helm, three quick passesbrought the ball to the Grace King 19-yard line, helped by a pass interference call on the Irish.

Finally, with 23 seconds remaining to the half, Monica romped 12 yards for the third touchdown of the evening. A Jason Waguespack point afterbumped the score to 22-0 for the half.

In the third quarter, Grace King’s opening drive managed 26 yards before an illegal procedure call edged them back five yards.

On the next play, Ivory Robinson burst out wide left and dashed 56 yards for a touchdown – which was called back on an illegal formation penalty.

The Irish soon punted away to the Comet 21-yard line.

St. Charles couldn’t make anything happen at this point and punted afterfour downs. Again, Ivory Robinson carried the Grace King load, carrying tothe Comet 10-yard line.

From this point, Robinson finally broke the barrier and posted a touchdown on the board with 5:14 remaining to the third quarter. The point after byRob Milam made the score 22-7.

St. Charles was quick to respond, though, as the kickoff was posted at theComet 20-yard line. Monica picked up four yards, Waguespack grabbedthree more yards, then Monica broke loose for a 73-yard TD run with 3:29 left on the clock. Waguespack’s point made the score 29-7.To their credit, Grace King continued to fight back, the tandem of quarterback Ray Dees and Robinson combined to move the ball from the Irish 25 to another Robinson touchdown with 10:57 left in the game, making the total 29-14.

The next St. Charles possession only gained 20 yards, from the 26 to the46-yard line before punting.

Grace King fumbled the punt but recovered on their own 6-yard line. Theirdrive only carried them to their own 33-yard line before they attempted to punt to the Comets.

However, the ball slammed into a defender’s back and the loose ball was grounded at the Grace King 27-yard stripe.

A series of penalties afflicted the next Comet possession, and the Irish took over the ball on downs at their own 25-yard line with 1:47 remaining.

But a 12-yard pass was intercepted by Ricky Madere at the Comet 2-yard line. Madere returned it 15 yards to close out the game.St. Charles had 12 first downs, to Grace King’s 22; 226 rushing yards toGrace King’s 264; and 93 passing yards to Grace King’s 116. However, St.Charles was only penalized seven times for 65 yards, while Grace King was penalized 12 times for 97 yards.

Friday, the Comets travel to Pan-American Stadium in New Orleans to play Lawless, with kickoff at 3:30 p.m.

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