LAPLACE — The scoreboard showed a close game at halftime. It was not that way at the end of regulation.

St. Charles Catholic (4-0) rode a dominant second half, outscoring the Cajuns 14-0 over the final 24 minutes in defeating Metairie Park Country Day 24-6 Friday night in LaPlace.

SCC coach Frank Monica said he told his Comets they were destined to lose if they didn’t pick it up in the second half.

“We had no energy; I am disappointed,” Monica said immediately after the game. “I thought our team would snap back with more zip (Friday,) but give Country Day credit.

“They got after us. We certainly didn’t look like a 4-0 football team.”

Monica said there a lot of things to correct, with the most important being mental toughness.

“We got sloppy at the end of the first half, and they hit some nice balls on us,” Monica said. “Whenever you shut down that quarterback and those good receivers, you have to give your defense some credit, but I am not happy with the overall performance.”

The Comets defense was again their strength, limiting Country Day’s total offense under 200 yards and its potent passing attack to just 104 yards and one passing touchdown. SCC also forced an interception.

Offensively, the Comets were led by running backs Joseph Chiarella and Phillip Tran.

Chiarella, a junior, punctuated the night with a rushing touchdown for the game’s final score.

He finished with 21 carries for 155 yards and even took some snaps at quarterback.

Tran tacked on 50 yards via 14 carries.

Quarterbacks Sutton Bourgeois and Justin Dumas split time leading an offense that also featured numerous skill position players taking direct snaps in a varied rushing attack.

Monica said his players are still feeling “a little sorry for” themselves because of numerous injuries.

“This is the team we have for the rest of the year,” Monica said. “No one is coming back. This is our football team for 2017.”

Comets regulars Dellary Oubre, Narquez Jones and Lloyd Nash were all limited to the sidelines because of major injuries.

In their place, four others combined for the scores, which started with a Cameron Fabre field goal to put SCC up 3-0 eight minutes into the game.

Randall Campbell later recovered an offensive fumble in the endzone to give SCC a 10-0 second quarter lead before Country Day closed it to 10-6 at halftime.

Dumas capped a long third quarter drive with a bootleg touchdown run six minutes into the frame to put SCC up 17-6 before Chiarella finished the scoring with a touchdown run less than three minutes into the fourth quarter.

SCC’s special teams blocked an extra point, stopped a Country Day fake punt attempt, connected on its only field goal try and was three for three on extra point attempts.

ESJH – 35, Central Lafourche – 13

The East St. John High Wildcats put their best foot forward Friday night, opening up district play with a strong 35-13 win over the Central Lafourche Trojans.

The teams played a scorless first quarter before ESJH ran off an impressive 29-0 stretch in quarters two and three to take control of the contest.

Duke Crosby connected with Korey Lee for a highlight 41-yard third quarter touchdown pass.

The Wildcats defense also scored a touchdown and forced a safety in their best performance of the season.

WSJH – 28, Plaquemine – 41

The Rams (2-2) lost a high-scoring road shootout at Plaquemine Friday night, 28-41.

West St. John High coach Brandon Walters said the Rams would be in for a physical game before the opening kick and the result proved it.

Plaquemine is now 3-1 on the season with wins over the Rams, Port Allen and East St. John High by a combined margin of 105-49.