Football roundup: Comets win, DHS wins cat fight, RA rallies, WSJ stopped short

Published 10:57 pm Friday, October 7, 2016

LAPLACE — Some River Parishes football fans might be wondering just how the St. Charles Catholic football team has gotten to be 5-1 this season.

If Friday night is any indication, the Comets can take care of business.

St. Charles scored on five of six first half possessions to roll to a 38-0 victory over Sophie B. Wright in the District 12-2A opener for both teams.

The Comets’ only loss came on a stormy Week 3 at Vandebilt Catholic. This was the team’s second consecutive shutout.

The defense certainly did its part Friday, holding the Warriors (0-4) to 103 yards of offense and forcing them to turn the ball over on downs four times.

Wright went for it that many times on fourth down after the Comets blocked three punts.

While not flashy, the St. Charles offense, meanwhile, did what it needed to do, finishing with just over 200 yards.

The Comets got all of their touchdowns in the first half and added a 37-yard field goal by Andrew Rodrique in the second half.

Running back Joseph Chiarella scored two touchdowns, on runs of 7 and 6 yards. Phillip Tran scored on a 4 yard run. Donald Fluker scored on a 2-yard run.

Lloyd Nash completed one pass for 13 yards, but was on the receiving end of a 30-yard touchdown from Robbie Gilbert.

The only real miscue by the Comets came on their first possession.

After holding the Warriors to 14 yards on the opening drive of the game, the Comets blocked Wright’s first punt at the 39-yard line. Tran ran for 17 yards on the first play, but the Comets fumbled it away on the second play.

The defense didn’t let the Warriors capitalize, however, stopping them at the Comets’ 44. Wright tried to fake a punt on fourth-and-13, but were stopped at midfield.

From there, St. Charles needed only four plays to scored. Chiarella ran to the 27, then the 9, then the 3. From there, he scored with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter.

The Comets held Wright to 10 yards on their next drive. On fourth-and-20 at the 30, St. Charles blocked another punt and recovered at the Warriors 15. Three plays later, Chiarella scored from the 6 to give the Comets a 14-0 lead at the end of the first period.

The Warriors elected not to punt the next time they were stopped, but St. Charles stopped them at the Comets 31. Four plays later, Tran scored from the 4 to make it 21-0.

Gilbert directed the next drive, which began at the Warriors 32-yard line. On the second play, he found Nash over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown with 4:14 remaining in the half.

Another blocked punt led to the Comets’ final touchdown. St. Charles recovered the ball at the Warriors 2-yard line and, with 2:12 remaining in the half, Fluker ran it in for a 35-0 lead.

Destrehan 39, East St. John 20

After back-to-back blowouts in the battle of the Wildcats, East St. John gave Destrehan a game.

East St. John jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter when former DHS quarterback Marquise Darensbourg ran for one score and threw to Javon Antonio for a 33-yard touchdown.

Sophomore JR Blood led Destrehan back to tie it at 13 with a pair of touchdown passes, but Darensbourg scored on a keeper just before the half. ESJ led 20-13.

Destrehan’s John Emery scored in the third quarter, but a missed PAT left East St. John with a 1-point lead. Then DHS missed a field goal.

A  botched punt then gave Destrehan the ball at the ESJ 6 and Blood connected with Michael Young for the go-ahead score. A John Emery touchdown and a pair of Destrehan interceptions would seal the win.

Country Day 17,  West St. John 12

Country Day stopped West St. John on fourth-and-goal on the last play of the game to escape Edgard with a win and spoil the Rams’ homecoming.

Austin Alexander connected with Marcus Boudoin on a 10-yard pass in the first quarter but missed the extra point. Country Day took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Patrick Kern. The Cajuns then added a 20-yard field goal and a touchdown.

Alexander was 11 of 24 for 146 yards with one interception and ran for 63 yards. Baudoin had four catches for 92 yards.

Riverside 32, Newman 24

Riverside scored 14 points in the third quarter and 18 points in the fourth quarter to avoid an upset and rally to victory in the District 12-2A opener for both teams.

Newman took advantage of a slew of Rebels miscues to take a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

Jordan Loving was 13 of 21 for 143 yards with two interceptions. He also was sacked three times. Jeremy Gibson rushed for 159 yards and scored three touchdowns. Hardell Mack had four carries for 123 yards and one touchdown.