LAPLACE- 2019 is a special year for Coach Frank Monica. He celebrates 50 years in coaching, he became the all-time winningest coach in the River Parishes and he was inducted to the Hall of Fame. He is also having an interesting year when you add in a new stadium being built, a home opener at Joe Keller field in Reserve and playing in a new district in 2A with only four teams.

Last year, SCC played in Class 3A where they reached the state semifinals and finished the season with an 8-4 record. The Comets now are playing in Class 2A and part of the Division II playoffs. If St. Charles continues to play the way they did in the first half of the season, Monica may enjoy an interesting and special playoff run.

Monica came into the year feeling good about his defense, and they have not disappointed him in the first half of the season. The Comet defense held South Lafourche to only 43 total yards for the game. St. Charles played two tough games against Lutcher and De LaSalle that went down to the wire, but the Comets emerged victorious. St. Charles also won a game in dominating fashion by shutting out E.D. White and held a tough East Ascension team to only 14 points.

Monica stated, “We’ve been very fortunate to be 4-1. We can play a lot better than we’ve played. It’s been a rugged stretch of games that we’ve been through, and we’re not done yet. There’s a lot of room for improvement. I’m pleased with some aspects of it and displeased with a lot of others. I think my football team needs to get better if we plan to have a future in the extended postseason play.”

The Comets have had some nagging injuries so far this season. Starting quarterback Justin Dumas has missed some game time but hopefully will play again soon. Monica identified linebacker Mandel Eugene as a standout player who is having a good year. He also pointed to defensive end Eli Ory, Reggie Hackett and Cade Pregeant for exceptional defensive play.

Monica mentioned Dumas, left tackle Evan Roussell and running backs Kennan Gauff and Phillip Tran as major contributors on offense.

“Offensively, we haven’t played our best,” Monica said. “We need to move the chains, and we need to be smarter. We make a lot of mental mistakes, and we need to be smarter on the offensive side of the ball and make adjustments correctly. Our biggest demise has been the intelligence of our offense. They’re not picking up the same things we’ve done over the years, and our execution is really waning. We need to get that back.”

Looking forward to the second half of the season, Monica said, “We’re going to be on the road for the next couple of weeks. That’s going to be huge. Then we’re getting into district play for the last three. We have to learn to be road warriors again.”

The Comets travel to Mississippi next week and follow that up with a Thursday game for a tough two-week stretch before competing in district. “I think your team grows up a little bit on the road. We’ll see how we handle this adversity,” Monica said. “Teams either get better, or they get worse. They don’t stay the same. We still can have that special season, but we have to really do things better at practice. You have to understand the process, and I don’t know if our guys get that yet. The process means you have to practice better.”

Fans seem to be looking forward to Oct. 25, when Newman will come to town for a District battle that could determine the 12-2A District Championship.