By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

LAPLACE – Sterlington seems to have learned a thing or two about St. Charles after being shut out 23-0 by the Comets last year in the semi-finals found of the playoffs. But not quite enough.

St. Charles bounced Sterlington for the second year in a row now as the Comets took a hard-fought 17-12 win last Friday night. It came down to turnovers as SCC managed a pair of interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries to score the go-ahead points and the eventual win.

&#8220What a good team these guys are,&#8220 said SCC coach Frank Monica of Sterlington in post-game comments. &#8220They gave us everything we could handle. We weren’t comfortable until there were triple zeroes on the scoreboard. Even now I feel like I want to get out of here before they change their minds.”

St. Charles got on the board first in the opening quarter when Garrett Biven covered a loose ball in Sterlington territory to set up an 11 play, 40 yard drive that culminated in a touchdown run by Matt Walters from the goal line. With the extra point by Chris Ilski, it was 7-0.

Sterlington came back with a drive that resulted in a touchdown, but the extra point attempt was blocked by SCC’s Corey Reed to maintain the lead with a 7-6 score.

Before halftime, St. Charles made it a four point lead with a 27-yard field goal after a stalled drive to go into the break with a 10-6 score.

The Comets padded that advantage in the third quarter with a touchdown drive that started with a fumble recovery by Nick Adams at mid-field. In seven plays, SCC got down to the goal line and faced fourth down before Jonathan Cancienne pushed it in for a touchdown run of one of his 78 yards rushing in the game.

Defensively, the Comets bent, but did not break. They gave up 228 yards of total Sterlington offense, but kept the field position in their favor for most of the game. Monica said that it was the game plan to keep Sterlington running back Jimmy Douglass from breaking free.

&#8220Their number 88 [Douglass] sure can fly,” said Monica. &#8220But we were able to contain him tonight for the most part.”

The win advances SCC into a home game this Friday against district rival St. James. The Comets lost to St. James in their last meeting, a heated contest that ended 19-12 to give the Wildcats the district 10-2A runner-up behind John Curtis.

&#8220We’re looking forward to getting back on the field for next week against St. James,” said Monica. &#8220We know they have a good team and they can put up a lot of points. I think they’re probably even better now than they were when we saw them last. They’re explosive and they have that speed. But we’ll do everything that we can because it’s all about getting to the Dome.”