Comets take on Lutcher

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 24, 2005

By DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

LAPLACE — The experiment continues.

Next phase: Jamboree

Opponent: Lutcher

Frank Monica’s St. Charles Catholic Comets open up the Destrehan jamboree tomorrow night against their arch-rivals, the Lutcher Bulldogs.

“We were able to take a lot of positive things out of our scrimmage,” Monica said. “We still have some things that have to be evaluated because both teams (St. Michael’s and SCC) were very vanilla. We agreed to not install that much offense and defense against one another. We just wanted to see who could play football and we were able to accomplish that.”

“We still have some question marks, but we are still a little bit closer than we were a week ago. A lot closer”

With his starting lineup nearly set, Monica said depth is his biggest question mark.

“The depth of our offensive line is still a big question mark,” Monica said. “We also still have to find out the ability of our running backs and who can play those positions. We also have yet to find who will play the positions along the defensive line. Depth at the wide receiver position is also being worked at as well.

“We are closer on some things and some things have cleared up. We have been able to make some adjustments this week because of that. Yet there is still more to do.”

Taking on a very tough Lutcher squad, Monica said his young offense must be able to control the ball if the Comets are to have a chance at coming away with any type of success.

“If we want to win, we have to be able to control their (Lutcher) defensive line,” Monica said. “They have an awesome defensive line and a very good defense overall.

“We have to control them and not allow them to be in the backfield and dominate the football game.

“On defense we have to be as sound as possible and not give up big plays because Lutcher has always been a big play football team. We have to make sure that we don’t give up the big plays. We have to be resilient and run to the football. If at all possible, we have to try and work the turnover margin.”

If the Comets are to be able to accomplish the goals Monica set forth, the head coach one particular group of Comets must play their very best game.

“The offensive line must step up,” Monica said. “The reason is the greatness of Lutcher’s defensive line, particularly their tackles. They are both very dominating players.”