LAPLACE — After losing his starting quarterback and his best defensive player to injuries, St. Charles Catholic coach Frank Monica lamented that his Comets might not be able to give visiting Destrehan a good game in their first regular season contest in years.

They gave them that and more, taking a stunning 24-8 victory over the Wildcats.

Monica scored his 251st career win while handing Destrehan its first regular season loss since 2012.

“We’re going to take it, for sure,” Monica said.

The Comets took advantage of a slew of Wildcats miscues, including three muffed punts, a fumble and an interception.

Meanwhile backup quarterback Sutton Bourgeois – who was on the third string during the Comets’ camp – handled the offense with poise.

It was running back Narquez Jones who provided most of the Comets’ offense, though, often out of the wildcat formation. The senior rushed for 179 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Jones admitted he was a little tired by the end of the night.

“Yes, but I give it all to my offense,” he said.

“They did it all tonight. We didn’t see this coming at all. We thought it was going to be a hard fought game – and it was a hard-fought game. We were just playing hard-nosed football. Our game plan was running power. Fortunately they didn’t stop it.”

Two muffs and a shanked punt helped the Comets take a take a 21-0 lead in the first half.

Destrehan went nowhere on its first drive and had the Comets stopped at their own 8 after their first drive. But the Wildcats muffed the punt reception and Nick Lorio recovered for the Comets at the Destrehan 40.

Four plays later, the Comets appeared stopped again at the Destrehan 17-yard line and lined up for the field goal. But holder Justin Dumas threw to an all alone Randall Campbell on the right side and he scrambled in for the Comets’ first touchdown with 7:14 remaining in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats fumbled again and Gavin St. Pierre recovered at the Destrehan 16. He would recover the second muffed punt later in the in the half.

This time it took St. Charles five plays to score with Jones running in from the 2 with 5:01 remaining in the first quarter.

Destrehan finally got a chance to put together a drive, but couldn’t get the offense going and an illegal procedure call pushed the Wildcats backward.

The Comets would score once more in the first half, this time thanks to a shanked punt that gave them the ball at the Destrehan 18.

On second and goal, Jones scored his second touchdown of the night on an 8-yard run with 7:40 remaining.

Cameron Fabre added a 20-yard field goal with 7:34 remaining in the game.

Destrehan finished with 160 yards of total offense, most of that coming on their lone scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

It began at the Wildcats 30 with quarterback JR Blood and John Emery moving the ball. On third-and-4 at the 5, Blood connected with Quinton Torbon for the score. Blood then threw to Carl Lewis for the 2-point conversion with 4:59 remaining.

Barbe 45, Riverside 28

After a strong start, the Rebels were overrun by the Buccaneers.

Barbe started with an early field goal, then Jordan Loving threw a 79-yard touchdown to Kash Foley to give the Rebels a 7-3 lead in the first quarter.

Barbe regained the lead, but Garland Robertson returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to give the Rebels a 14-10 lead.

Following two more Barbe scores, Jeremy Gibson scored on a 50-yard touchdown. Louis Cheneau added a 1-yard score.

West St. John 34,

South Plaquemines 0

Colin Duhe rushed for 77 yards and caught passes for 87 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown to help the Rams (1-1) to victory.

D’Andre Goudia was  9 of 16 for 157 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

East St. John 33,

West Jefferson 14

Shelvin Keller scored three touchdowns to help the Wildcats beat the Bucs.

Keller scored on two 11-yard runs and a 17-yard run.

Cameron Grant added a 6-yard touchdown and Calvin Gardner scored another set up by Howard Joseph’s 48-yard interception return.