LAPLACE, La. — St. Charles Catholic and Notre Dame are two schools that regularly meet in the postseason, no matter the sport.
This week, that sport is football, as the No. 2 Comets and No. 3 Pios meet again in the Division III state semi-finals.
“Really I think the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is going to win the game. Games are lost more than they’re won and this game will be one of those games,” says St. Charles Catholic head coach Wayne Stein.
Friday will mark the 9th year in a row that St. Charles Catholic has appeared in the state semi-finals and the third time in a row they’ll have to go through Notre Dame for a berth in their 4th straight state championship game.
“Lewis Cook is one of the best in the business not just as a head coach but as a play caller. His offense is dynamic. Some who might be on the outside looking at it might think that things that are simple but it’s a very complex offense. Multiple blocking schemes, they can run the football, they can throw the football and their kids are going to stay within the system. Same things we ask our kids to do. So, you’re going to have to play well, you can’t blink. The first team that blinks is going to be the team that is going to be sitting at home next Friday,” says Stein.
St. Charles Catholic is playing their best ball of the season because they are the healthiest they have been all season.
The Comets were without as many as 9 starters earlier this season, that list included quarterback Ayden Authement.
“It forced us to play some kids that we didn’t know could play. At the end of the day, you looked around and that’s what you had and they went out there and performed to the best of their ability. Some played well and some didn’t but now you have depth. Take a guy like Brady St. Pierre who he started out the season as a safety, he then became quarterback after Ayden Authement, and now he’s a wide receiver. He’s played three different positions and had a role in all three,” says Stein.
Since Authement’s return, St. Charles Catholic is 4-0 averaging 35 points per game.
Authement rejoined a backfield with the Comets’ one-two punch of Samare Scott and Davon Sturgis, who have combined for nearly 2,000 yards of offense with 24 touchdowns.
“I call them thunder and lightning. I tell them I don’t know which one is which because I don’t know how fast they are, but they’ve been excellent. Ayden Authement as a starter, if he started the game and finished the game, we’re undefeated in two years. I think it’s one of the best skill groups we’ve had offensively in a long time,” says Stein.
Points will be at a premium Friday night when these two teams meet at Dupuy Memorial Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
You can catch all of the high school football playoff action Friday night on WGNO’s Friday Night Football, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The show starts at 11 p.m. on Nola 38 the CW followed by the replay at midnight on WGNO.
