By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

 

LAPLACE — The verdict is in and the jury has spoken: The St. Charles Comets’ defense is most decidedly back to form.

SCC began the night with a defensive touchdown and the big plays kept coming in a 35-0 victory over District 7-3A foe Port Allen at Thomas J. Dupuy Jr. Memorial Stadium Friday night.

Comets’ linebacker Luke Jackson had 3.5 sacks as SCC pressured Port Allen quarterback and Texas A&M commitment Darian Claiborne all night long.

Offensively, Brandon Zimmer shined for SCC (4-2, 2-0). The Comets fullback needed only four touches to pile up 71 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground and one through the air.

Austin Weber and Jemal Baptiste each passed for a touchdown, while Weber rushed for another.

The Comets led 14-0 in the game before ever getting a first down; SCC got its initial first down after the midway point of the second quarter.

But the Comets blocked one punt and got a sack on another, then recovered a muffed fair catch on special teams alone.

“We knew we had to win in the kicking game,” said St. Charles coach Frank Monica. “We needed to win starting field position, or else it would be a long night.”

The Comet march to victory started fittingly with defense when David Bleakley sacked Claiborne and forced a fumble — fellow defensive lineman Sean McGraw scooped it up and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. Patrick Juneau’s extra point was good and SCC led 7-0 with 8:17 left in the first quarter.

“After he scored, we all got a little jealous,” joked Jackson. “We all wanted to get out there and make another big play.

Both offenses struggled early; after McGraw’s score, each offense went three-and-out twice. Port Allen (4-2, 1-1) earned the third first down of the night on the final play of the first quarter, when a bold call to go on fourth-and-one from its own 32 paid off when Joshua Vance converted.

But Jackson blew up the drive after sacking Claiborne on third-and-10. One play later, Claiborne was back in punt formation, but he dropped the deep snap. Chad McNeil converged upon him and Jackson finished him off as the duo set the offense up at the Port Allen 12. Weber dialed up Garrett Lubin three plays into the drive, Lubin hauling in a diving catch to make it 14-0 with 9:31 to go in the second quarter.

SCC’s next drive ended with a fumble, but Port Allen went nowhere and was forced to punt from its own 45. Taylor Cochran blocked the punt for SCC and set the Comets up with good field position again at the Port Allen 42.

This time, the Comet offense put everything together. Weber ran three times for 36 yards, setting up a Baptiste to Zimmer touchdown pass that made it 21-0 with 3:22 left in the half.

“(Zimmer) gives us a different dimension, doubling as our H-back,” said Monica. “He played very well tonight. He’s a guy who doesn’t want to see this season end.”

A Port Allen onside kick attempt to begin the second half failed, and St. Charles put together another strong drive, going 50 yards in five plays, highlighted by a 34-yard Weber to Zimmer pass play and capped by Weber’s 12-yard touchdown run with 9:31 left in the third.

“He’s not flashy, but he gets those tough yards for you,” said Monica of Weber. “We put him out there at quarterback … He really likes to play running back, but he doesn’t back down when we ask him to play quarterback. He’s an all-out football player.”

The Comets scored one more time, taking the ball on their next possession after the defense stopped Port Allen at the Comet 30. SCC went 70 yards in six plays, with Erron Lewis and Zimmer each busting 30 yard runs. Zimmer scored on a 1-yard plunge to cap things.

St. Charles held Port Allen to a three-and-out on six of its first eight drives. The Comets held Port Allen to 119 total yards — the Pelicans had drives of 39, 2, minus-7, minus-11, 2, 1, 8, 16, 54, 16 and 3 yards. Port Allen entered the night averaging 36 points per game.

“We knew Port Allen would be a tough team and that we had to stop them,” said Jackson. “We wanted to put our offense in a good position. We forced that fumble early and got Sean McGraw in the endzone. We kept fighting from there.”

While the night was a celebratory one for SCC, the Comets did not leave the game without concern. Nose tackle Taylor Cochran, one of the team’s most pivotal players, left the game with a knee injury late in the third quarter.

“He looked like he jammed his knee into the ground. We don’t know anything more than that at the moment,” said Monica.

Monica also noted that the Comets need to quickly make strides in the passing game. SCC primarily moved the ball on the ground, and a late first-half interception thrown by Baptiste in the Port Allen redzone cost the team a potential shot at points before halftime.

“We need to make better decisions in the passing game. We wanted to throw a bit more, but we weren’t as efficient as we need to be,” said Monica.

But after an 0-2 start, the Comets have won four straight and seem primed to make a run.

“We’ve been able to be resilient,” said Jackson. “We practiced hard all week to earn this one. We all want to play hard, and our coaches put us in position to have success.”