By Ryan Arena

L’Observateur

St. Charles rushed for almost 400 yards on Friday night as it steamrolled visiting Springfield, 49-0, in a Class 2A regional playoff game in LaPlace.

The fourth seeded Comets are ticketed for a home quarterfinal game on Friday night against fifth-seeded Farmerville.

Jeffrey Hall ran for 201 yards and three scores on 11 carries as SCC (11-1) piled up 383 yards on the ground.

Lazedrick Thompson ran for 91 yards and a score, while Keith White added 50 yards and two touchdowns.

“We controlled the line,” said St. Charles coach Frank Monica. “The run game was working for us and we stuck with it. We’ve settled down on our offensive line personnel and it’s helped us be able to run inside, run outside…and when you can do that, it helps the passing game.”

Springfield (8-4) moved deep into Comet territory on its first drive, but came away with no points when it missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

From there, the Comets went to work. Hall scored twice in the first quarter on runs of 35 and 21 yards. Thompson got in on the act in the second quarter, scoring from eight yards out.

SCC led 21-0 at the half. Hall’s third touchdown on the night came on the Comets’ first possession of the third quarter, a 3-yard run that made it 28-0.

“I never thought we fully had the momentum in the first half,” Monica said. “But that one gave us security.”

Quarterback Henri Faucheux would make it 35-0 on his own touchdown run, from one yard out. He finished the game 6-for-8 with 68 yards passing.

White tacked on touchdown runs of 15 and 18 yards.

Zach Goodwin caught four passes for 45 yards. Johnny Fisse led the defensive effort with nine tackles.

Each team turned the ball over three times.

Monica said the Comets set out to limit the explosive plays by a Springfield team that’s boasted a potent passing game all season.

“They hit on a lot of deep balls, and they had some tall receivers that concerned us,” said Monica.

“We worked real hard to make sure it wouldn’t be a factor. We made them get away from their game plan.”