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LAPLACE — When two of the River Parishes’ defending champions came head to head in Week Two, St. Charles Catholic reigned supreme, edging past Lutcher 16-14 in the final seconds of the game.

SCC Head Coach Wayne Stein referred to it as a classic game of River Parish football.

“They are not just a champion, but they are a River Parish team, and when you play River Parish rivalry games, you know it’s going to be hard-fought to the end, and you know whoever makes the least mistakes is going to win,” Stein said.

St. Charles Catholic started the game on a 7-0 lead after a long pass from Brady St. Pierre to Brandon Kragle put Skyler Edwards in position for a touchdown. The Comets maintained the lead until just before the end of the second quarter, when a touchdown from Lutcher evened the score 7-7.

After a scoreless third quarter, the game heated up in the fourth. An interception by Brayden Bertucci gave the Comets an opportunity to regain the lead. Jeremiah Wills brought the ball to the end zone, and the Comets led 13-7 despite a failed attempt at an extra point. Lutcher applied pressure with a touchdown late in the game, making the score 14-13 with the Bulldogs on top and just over three minutes remaining.

It took a team effort for St. Charles Catholic to drive down the field and position themselves for a field goal. Tyler Milioto redeemed himself from the missed point earlier in the evening when he kicked the winning field goal as time expired.

“We were proud of him obviously because he made the field goal, but more proud of him because after he missed the extra point in the fourth quarter – which is rare for him and can shake you up mentally – he had the guts to put that behind him and make the biggest kick of his life. It’s really special,” Stein said.

Stein also credits the win to tight end Brandon Kragle, who had a phenomenal night with six catches for 126 yards.

“I don’t know the last time we had a tight end with over 100 yards receiving,” Stein said.

On the defensive side, Kyle Cannon solidified himself as a leader with more than 10 tackles.

St. Charles Catholic will have a home game next week against Teurlings Catholic, the team that handed the Comets their first loss in 600 days back in 2022.

“They are an undefeated, semifinal team. They are very talented and well-coached, so we will have to play extremely well to have a chance to win,” Stein said.

In other River Parish football news, Destrehan maintained its title as the Louisiana prep team with the longest winning streak with a 24-7 win against John Ehret.

East St. John shut out George Washington Carver 44-0 in City Park’s Pan Am Stadium Thursday night. West St. John is having a rough start to the season and suffered a 61-0 loss against St. James in Week Two. Riverside Academy had a slew of errors during a loss to Isidore Newman 33-7 Friday night, and Hahnville fell to Mandeville 31-5.