by RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. Charles played its annual spring game Friday morning, completing a spring practice period in which coach Frank Monica said the objective was to begin rebuilding some areas of concern post-graduation.

Specifically, the wide receiving corps, secondary, and offensive lines are spots that Monica said he and his coaches were keeping an eye on, as numerous starters must be replaced at those positions.

But the Comets certainly didn’t lack for playmakers in Saturday morning’s intrasquad scrimmage.

Donnie Savoie threw a touchdown to Chris Millet, one of his new projected targets at receiver. Lazedrick Thompson picked up where he left off a year ago, as the bruising rusher ran for a short touchdown. Jordan Favorite and Eian Mitchell also each scored touchdowns.

Defensively, Jeffrey Hall made the play of the morning when he returned an interception for a touchdown — an important development as Hall is converting from wide receiver to defensive back this offseason.

Connor Western and Sam McMahon also each intercepted passes.

The scrimmage was structured to match the first team offense against defense, then the second team and the third.

Monica said that he and his staff elected to cut the scrimmage a bit shorter than scheduled due to a spike in temperature.

“We didn’t want to push it and suffer any injuries,” said Monica. “We were able to get out of spring healthy, which is always a big thing. When you’re not playing another team, it’s all 22 of your guys constantly out there and exposed to that risk.”

Sammy Miller stood out at wide receiver, catching seven passes on the day.

“Our receiving corps has been decimated, so we need to see some guys step up into that position … Sammy Miller caught a number of passes and did a really, really good job after the catch.”

Monica said rebuilding the offensive line is of chief importance. SCC loses three starters on the line to graduation and its starting tight end.

The secondary only returns one player with significant experience in Macky Cortez, but the switching of Hall from offense to defense should help there. Monica said that a number of defensive backs had strong spring performances.

One position that Monica can count on some continuity in is at quarterback — a strange prospect for recent followers of the Comets, as the team has had a different quarterback in each of the last five seasons. Donnie Savoie returns after leading the team to a state semifinal appearance in 2010.

Monica said having him return is a boon, especially considering the turnover the team is dealing with at the primary receiving positions.

“He gets you into the right plays, settles down your offense and leads the football team,” said Monica. “He’s a student of the game and that rubs off on others. He’s not tall, he lacks a big arm, but he’s so competitive and has very good anticipation skills. He knows where the receiver is supposed to be.”

At the same time, Monica isn’t completely comfortable yet with the position. While his starter is set, he needs to develop someone to back Savoie up.

“Those guys still need experience. You never know when you’ll need one of them to step up,” Monica said.

His backfield will again boast Marcus Hall and Thompson, the contrasting duo of speed and power that keyed the Comets offense last season. The coach also praised Favorite and Ahmani Martin as young players there who have had promising springs.

Jeffrey Hall also will likely see time on offense, Monica said, in special situations.

“With his ability and his experience at receiver, we’d be foolish not to utilize him there,” said Monica.

Defensively, LaJaylin Smith should again lead the way at defensive end. Nick Montagut returns after leading the linebacking corps in tackles. Ross Authement will move from defensive end to strong safety.

“We have to rebuild and restructure that secondary,” said Monica.

Overall, the coach said that he would have liked the spring to go longer—as per new LHSAA rules, spring programs have been cut from a maximum of 15 days to 10, and the Comets used nine – but that overall his team got a lot out of the time allotted.

“You find out who can do what, and more importantly, who can’t,” said Monica. “But there are some kids that we went into not really sure about, and that opened some eyes. We have our film from it now, and we’ll be able to determine who we can count on.”