By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

St. Charles Catholic nearly pulled off the win of a lifetime Friday night with Class 2A No. 1 John Curtis in town. But the Patriots escaped LaPlace with a six-point victory — and now, the challenge for the Comets is to leave that performance behind and move on to the next game.

That next game is against another Class 3A ranked foe, a road clash with District 11-3A competitor De La Salle (5-1, 1-0), winners of four straight. De La Salle is ranked 10th in Class 3A in the LSWA poll. The Comets (4-2, 0-1) are ranked fourth.

St. Charles coach Frank Monica said he hopes his team can “shake off the cobwebs, mentally” before this game against a much-improved De La Salle team.

“Going on the road is difficult as it is,” Monica said. “It’s going to be hard to get their attention. We told them long ago about De La Salle and how good they projected to be this year. They’ve got speed, quickness, tremendous size. We can’t afford to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves.”

De La Salle’s lone loss came to Class 4A St. Michael, 16-6. The Cavaliers boast wins over Grace King, Hannan, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and McMain, all by double figures.

The Cavaliers will likely enter this game with payback on their minds. Their 2013 season ended at the hands of St. Charles in the Division II postseason, SCC 56-13 winners at home in that one. In district play, SCC bested De La Salle 30-2.

In the playoff matchup, the Comet defense forced four Cavalier turnovers. Erron Lewis rushed for 165 yards on 13 carries, en route to four touchdowns. Austin Weber rushed and passed for a touchdown, while Dane Authement hauled n a 42-yard scoring catch.

“There’s a lot at play,” Monica said. “They’re already an emotional football team. They’re also playing with a lot of confidence this year. They feel they’re ready to contend in the playoffs, and it will be a playoff-like atmosphere there on Friday.”

Last week, the Cavaliers defeated McMain in the opening week of District 11-3A play. Cole Lewis, a running back converted from linebacker, rushed for 165 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries. On the season, he’s rushed for 805 yards and 15 touchdowns.

It’s safe to say those numbers have him square in the crosshairs of Monica and Comets defensive coordinator Wayne Stein.

“He’s really good,” Monica said. “He has a strong lower body and he’s hard to knock off his feet. He lines up back there deep, so he’s got a good running start and when he hits the line, he’s packing a punch. He’s a big concern.”

De La Salle’s defense has allowed six points or fewer in each of its past three games.

In Friday’s loss to Curtis, Weber tossed an interception on his first pass attempt of the night, but bounced back to play one of the best games of his career.

“That’s just who he is,” Monica said.

“He’s very, very competitive. You hear him in the locker room, you hear him on the field … It’s real big. Our offense goes as our quarterback goes, and we’ve seen over the past three games or so, he’s come a long way as a passer.”