By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

St. Charles didn’t come out the gates blistering at home on Friday night – and a more-than-stout West St. John defense surely had something to do with that.

But the Comets did plenty enough to emerge with a 21-6 victory over the Rams in LaPlace in a clash of teams ranked in the top five of their respective classifications.

SCC moves to 3-0 with the win and retains its No. 4 ranking within Class 2A. West St. John suffered its first loss of the season and drops from No. 3 to No. 4 in Class 1A.

“It’s pretty exciting” said St. Charles quarterback Henri Faucheux, who threw two touchdown passes in the game. “We haven’t played a shabby team yet, and we’ve had a couple of comebacks in there. It’s a great way to start.”

SCC didn’t require a comeback on Friday, as it led throughout the night – the Comets scored their first touchdown early in the second quarter, and West St. John wouldn’t put points on the board until the waning stages of the fourth quarter.

But while thankful for the victory, St. Charles coach Frank Monica saw plenty of flaws to be tweaked before district play begins Friday.

“We never really seized the momentum tonight,” said Monica. “We made a multitude of mistakes. I was very, very disappointed with our offensive production. I felt like we had a solid plan, but it didn’t materialize.

“And for that, give West St. John all the credit in the world. They were physical. They put pressure on us with just three rushing at times. That’s not good on our part.”

His team’s offensive drives may not have been as seamless as the coach would have liked, but the Comets were able to generate enough big plays to take control. A long punt return by Marcus Hall – which is becoming something of a weekly occurrence in the young season – set up one score. Pass plays of 33 and 44 yards set up two more.

“They made the plays when it counted,” said West St. John coach Robert Valdez.

The Comet defense was similarly up to the task, allowing 200 total yards, 71 coming on one play – a Dray Joseph to Kenneth Dabney touchdown strike with 4:01 left in the game.

The Rams defense was nearly as stingy in that department, allowing 248 total yards.

SCC’s first touchdown drive began in Rams territory, thanks to a 37-yard return by Hall to the WSJ 41. SCC drove all the way down to the 6 before a botched pitch left the Comets facing third-and-goal from the 13. But with time in the pocket, Faucheux scanned his options and found Zach Goodwin on a post in the back in the endzone for a touchdown with 10:25 left in the second quarter.

A big defensive play ignited the Comets next push. After a running into the kicker penalty on a punt left West St. John with a fourth-and-one on its own 44, SCC stopped the Rams on fourth down when Nick Reine and Paul Celestine combined to stuff a Joseph sneak.

“When we see the defense come through like that, it pumps up our offense,” said Faucheux. “You just have to thank the ‘D’.”

The stop wouldn’t go to waste. Jeffery Hall would convert a fourth-and-two on a rush to the WSJ 32. A play later, and after a penalty, Faucheux hit Keith White for a 32-yard gain to the 6. Marcus Hall did the rest, scoring from six yards out to make it 14-0 with 23 seconds left in the first half.

SCC’s first two drives of the second half stalled in WSJ territory, but its third would essentially provide the final blow. On a third-and-11, Faucheux found Goodwin on a comeback route, and Goodwin made a spin move to get free. He’d dash up the sideline to the WSJ 8 for a gain of 44 yards. Brandon Becker found the endzone on the next play off a shovel pass from Faucheux to make it 21-0.

Marcus Hall finished with 94 yards on 19 carries and 156 all-purpose yards.

Faucheux completed 9-of-13 passes for 120 yards. Goodwin hauled in four catches for 70 yards.

For WSJ, Dabney totaled 186 all-purpose yards, including four catches for 96 yards. Joseph completed 10-of-26 passes for 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The Comets outrushed the Rams 126-36.