Comets to face 2A top-seeded Sterlington Panthers in LaPlace this Friday

By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

With some potent defense, and an upset thriller last Friday night, the River Parishes still have a pair of teams alive in the high school football post-season with Hahnville (10-2) and St. Charles (10-2).

SCC coach Frank Monica and the Comets made easy work of Jonesboro-Hodge while Hahnville narrowly eliminated East St. John to survive for the semi-finals round of play to face Sterlington and Acadiana respectively.

LaPlace will be the site for the 2A match-up of St. Charles and Sterlington this Friday night, as the Panthers will come in to Comet Stadium where they will play a durable SCC squad that is so far undefeated at home. But Sterlington brings with them a potent running attack along with the number one seed, not to mention a 12-1 record and a 12 game win streak.

This game looks to be a test of the Comet defense. Panther senior Jimmy Douglas, a 5’10 195 lb. running back, rushed for 215 yards last week in a 38-20 win over Sumner. St. Charles has been stingy with their defense this season, giving up only 12.5 points on average per game, but Sterlington’s offense has posted an average of more than 40 points per game. Something here has got to give. But then, each week it seems like another Comet player is stepping it up for a big performance. They’ll need some of those special heroics this week if they want to advance to see the winner of the Ouachita Catholic at John Curtis match-up for a chance at the title game.

In 5A, Hahnville will take their 7 seed and head into Acadiana to take on the third-seeded Rams (11-1). This one could turn into a nail-biter as the two teams look to be fairly evenly matched. As a measuring stick, both teams played Ehret this season, Hahnville first took a win over the Patriots by a score of 52-14. Acadiana faced the same Patriot team three weeks later and took a 38-14 win.

The Tigers will have to contain running backs James Armstrong and Jordan Figaro who combined last week for nearly 200 yards rushing. They will also have to compete with a defense that has allowed only 16 points per game. The Rams will be faced with stopping HHS quarterback Early James, who passed for 175 yards and a touchdown last week. The Tigers will also need Terrance Isaac at one-hundred percent after leaving the game last week with a sore ankle.

The Acadiana Rams survived a squeaker last week when they inched by Westgate after a missed field goal inside of the last five seconds of play. Hahnville is also coming off of an emotional win against ESJ, and is vying for a chance to play their second title game in three years. The 5A title game this year will pit the Hahnville versus Acadiana winner against the winner of the (1)Catholic of Baton Rouge at (4)West Monroe game in on Friday.