By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

District play is over for St. Charles Catholic, but one regular season contest remains: at home Friday night against Grace King.

St. Charles coach Frank Monica said while the Irish have collected just three wins this season, the team has faced some tough competition, highlighted by Karr and De La Salle.

“They’ve got a lot of talent on their roster,” Monica said. “They’ve got a big nose guard and some good guys around him up front. They haven’t had a great year, but they’ve played some great people. They’re certainly not someone we can afford to take lightly.”

While the Comets (7-2) have faced a number of spread offenses in recent weeks, like Lusher and De La Salle, Grace King (2-5) looks to run the ball from big sets.

“We’ll be playing more in our base defense than we have recently,” Monica said. “We’ve had to play a lot of nickel coverage of late. They run that power offense, the triple option, some Wing-T … we’ll have to convert from what we’ve been doing against the spread and fortify ourselves against the run.”

Defensively, Monica notes a very fast Grace King defensive backfield, featuring cornerbacks the Irish coaches trust to play in one-on-one situations.

“They dare you to throw the ball,” Monica said. “But if you can solve (Grace King’s defense), you can get some big plays from it.”

The running game, meanwhile, has been a big boon for St. Charles all season, never more than it was last week. SCC tailback Justin Loupe rushed for 163 yards last week, while quarterback Austin Weber tacked on 110 yards on the ground. Loupe, Weber and Erron Lewis combined to rush for five touchdowns.

Monica said the Comet coaches challenged the team’s offensive line to be more physical last week. Starters Michael Bosarge, Tyler Forsythe, Kobie Houston, Ricky Gaubert and Tyrin Arceneaux combined with tight end Zach Maurin and fullback Jeffrey Millet answered the call.

Monica credited both Loupe and Lewis as getting better as pass blockers as well. Their play, as well as the play of the line, Weber and his receivers, enabled the Comet offense to overcome four sets of downs where the Comets had to go 22 yards or more for a first.

“It’s a credit to our kids we were able to overcome those situations,” Monica said.