LAPLACE – It’s the goal of every high school football coach in the state of Louisiana to be playing Thanksgiving week. With no school to worry about, coaches and players can concentrate just on football and the game ahead.

“It’s always our goal,” St. Charles Catholic coach Frank Monica said. “We talk about it the first night in camp. We want to be practicing on Thanksgiving morning.”

Only 56 teams have made it, though, and that number includes local teams St. Charles Catholic and West St. John High.

The Comets (9-1), the No. 3 seed, will host No. 7 Catholic High of New Iberia (7-3) in a Division III quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at Thomas J. Dupuy Memorial Stadium. The winner will advance to the Division III finals against the winner between No. 1 Lafayette Christian and No. 5 Dunham.

Class 1A No. 1 seed West St. John (6-3) will host No. 8 seed Logansport (6-5) in a quarterfinal round game to be played at Rudy Dinvaut Stadium in Edgard. The winner will advance to the Class 1A semifinals against the winner between No. 4 Oak Grove and No. 12 Homer.

For the Rams, the goal is simple – to win the next two games and get to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Dec. 14. It would be their first trip since 2017 and their seventh overall. West St. John’s predecessor, Second Ward High School, won titles in 1971 and 1972.

For the Comets, however, things aren’t so simple. One more win will put them in the finals, but they don’t know where that game will be played. The state’s Select Schools have broken out of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s championship series to play at their home fields or at a designated site of their own choosing.

According to Monica, schools in the Lafayette area have been in negotiations with Louisiana-Lafayette. He said his administrators have spoken with Southeastern, but nothing has been decided yet.

“There are no contracts or anything,” he said. “We don’t know what the destination is. But right now, we have to concentrate on the task in front of us.”

The Comets face a tough opponent in Catholic High. After losing its first three to some stellar competition, Catholic came back to win seven in a row. The Panthers have outscored those opponents 388 to 86, with wins of 63-0 over Delcambre, 62-20 over West St. Mary and 77-12 over Jeanerette. More impressive, however, was Friday night’s 24-21 win over No. 2 seed Notre Dame, the defending state champion.

The Comets had to rally to get past Episopal, scoring 26 points after falling behind 15-14 in the third quarter. Mason Narcisse put the Comets ahead 20-15 with a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Then, quarterback Justin Dumas scored on an 8-yard run, Riley LeBlanc on an interception, Keenan Gauff ran for his second and Brandon McDonald recovered a fumble in the end zone.

“I thought we came out flat out of the bye week,” Monica said. “I’ve expressed my concerns about that. We have to fix some mistakes.”

West St. John had little trouble with No. 16 seed LaSalle last week, rolling to a 44-0 win with its solid running game.  Wantrell Williams rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns and Dakyri Jackson rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback D’Andre Gaudia was 6 of 13 for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

Logansport comes to Edgard on a roll itself. After losing its first games, the Tigers have won their last six, allowing only 28 points.