By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

St. Charles Coach Frank Monica knew that Redemptorist was no ordinary No. 13 seed even before the Wolves took the field to face his team at Thomas J. Dupuy Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

At the cost of St. Charles’ nine game winning streak, the Wolves proved his fears valid.

Redemptorist’s Jonathan Green rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns as the Wolves rolled to a 27-14 regional round playoff victory at St. Charles.

The Wolves (9-2), who began the year as the No. 4 ranked team in Class 3A, dominated the trenches, allowing the No. 4 seeded Comets (9-2) few chances to make a game-changing play.

“They controlled both lines,” said Monica. “It’s very simple. We weren’t able to run the ball at all. There was nothing we could hang our hat on.

“I didn’t know that we could be a Superdome team, but I know we’re capable of more than we showed tonight.”

For Redemptorist, it was a by the book exhibition of how many teams win games in November and December — run the football, stop the run. As a team, the Wolves rushed for 240 yards. Perhaps even more importantly, their defense limited St. Charles to negative-20 yards on the ground.

“Our defense has played lights out football for the last four weeks or so,” said Redemptorist Coach Guy Mistretta. “They did a super job. I told them before the game that we had to win up front, and I feel like we did that against a team that prides itself on its tough play on the lines.”

Redemptorist will face Parkview Baptist in the state quarterfinals on Friday night.

The Wolves made a statement on their opening drive, scoring within the game’s first three minutes. On third and three from the Comets’ 25 yard line, Green took a pitch right and scampered down the sideline for the first points of the game, putting Redemptorist ahead 7-0 with 9:17 left in the first quarter.

St. Charles, likewise, began its first possession with a positive play. Quarterback Henri Faucheux hit fullback Michael Brock for a 17-yard gain that set SCC up on the Comets 49. But things turned sour in a hurry.

(See SCC, Page 11A)

A false start cost St. Charles five yards. A fumbled snap cost them eight more. Soon, SCC would punt.

Momentum shifted temporarily when the Wolves Lamar Foster muffed the punt and SCC’s Alex Marse recovered at the Redemptorist 13. Courtland Taylor scored five plays later from the 1, and the score was tied 7-7 with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

From there, each team exchanged missed opportunities. The Wolves drove to the St. Charles 9, then later to the 17 but came away with no points thanks to two missed field goals.

Meanwhile, a dropped third-down pass stymied a St. Charles drive.

Another proved fruitless after SCC drove inside the Wolves 20. Marse came up big again as Faucheux found him deep, a 38-yard completion to the RHS 18. But Redemptorist stuffed two SCC runs for negative yardage, then sacked Faucheux twice to kill the drive right before halftime.

“It made a big difference in terms of momentum,” said Monica. “We just couldn’t build any at all.”

Faucheux was sacked twice to end the Comets first drive after halftime — the sophomore was on the run for much of the night, and took eight sacks in all.

“Chalk it up as a learning experience for him. He’s got a bright future,” Monica said of Faucheux, who was pressed into action during district play after a knee injury to starter Marc Picciola. “We didn’t give him much help up front.”

It then took Redemptorist seven plays to drive 66 yards, as Green put his team ahead 14-7 after a 38-yard touchdown run.

Each defense held tough until the fourth quarter. With 9:02 left in the game, the Wolves began what would be a backbreaking drive. On a third-and-four, Redemptorist quarterback Deuce Coon rolled out and hit Jarren Pickering down the sideline for a 41-yard gain to the Comets’ 19. Three plays later, Coon scored on a sneak to make it 21-7 with 3:52 left in the game.

With 2:04 left, Green scored his third touchdown to make it 27-7.

St. Charles finished on a positive note when Faucheux hit Zach Goodwin for a 16-yard touchdown pass, but it came with less than 30 seconds remaining.