Dome run over as PHS eliminated from state playoffs

In a battle between unbeatens, Patterson knew it had to be near-perfect to beat St. Charles Catholic and move to the state quarterfinals.

They were anything but. The Tri-parish’s most powerful team is now eliminated from the playoffs.

Thanks to a combination of Lumberjack errors and fierce, dominant defense by St. Charles Catholic, the Comets kept their winning streak alive, moving to the quarterfinals with a sound 31-6 win.

The game, shown to more than 2 million households across the Gulf Coast on Cox Sports Television, resulted in win No. 200 for longtime St. Charles Catholic coach Frank Monica. It ended Patterson’s season with a 10-1 record.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” a dejected Patterson coach Tommy Minton said. “We just didn’t execute. When a team is that good defensively, you’ve got to make plays and tonight we didn’t make them.”

“The win itself was big,” Monica said. “I told the kids not to get caught up in the media, in the hype. Let’s just go out and play football. … We beat a heck of a football team tonight.”

Things started pretty well for the Jacks on Friday.

St. Charles Catholic took the football on its opening possession and marched down the field, setting up 1st and goal from the Patterson 2-yard-line.

The Jacks’ defense stiffened and even pushed forward, stuffing three-straight plays to force a fourth down play from the 6-yard-line. Patterson flexed its muscles once more on that play, blowing up a fake field goal attempt to take over the ball on downs.

“That was my fault,” Monica said. “I was kind of stupid. … I had better plays to go to and I should have gone to them. But the kids, they came back.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the story of the game became Patterson’s inability to get out of its own way, which played into the teeth of the Comets’ defense.

On one promising drive, a shotgun snap sailed over senior quarterback Justice Jones’ head, stalling momentum and forcing a punt.

On others, pre-snap penalties and dropped passes halted the team dead in its tracks.

The final straw arguably came with less than a minute in the first half with the Jacks trailing 14-0.

Patterson punted the ball after another stalled drive. St. Charles Catholic muffed the punt, handing the football to the Jacks at the Comets 25-yard-line.

Trying to steal back momentum before halftime, disaster struck immediately as Jones’ first down pass was intercepted in the end zone.

Patterson never seriously threatened again.

“It was a game of plays,” Minton said. “You’ve got to make plays at this level. We just didn’t make them. That’s the bottom line. You can’t play a good team and expect to win if you don’t do that. … We had a couple turnovers. We had a snap here or there. Those are killers. You can’t put yourself in 2nd and 15 situations against a team like that.”

The loss ends Patterson’s season short of its goal, to win the state championship. Following the game, several watery eyes were seen in the Lumberjacks’ huddle.

Minton stressed to his seniors that regardless of the setback, their contributions to the program cannot be quantified. He added that he was proud of them for their four-year sacrifices that thrust the program to the top-tier of Class 3A.

“You look at those guys over a four-year period and they won 41 football games,” Minton said. “There’s a lot of seniors who would love to have that. We set some goals for ourselves and we didn’t achieve them. But we did achieve a lot.”

For the underclassmen, the message was simple: “Remember this feeling, so you never have to experience it again.”

The Jacks will be back, they always are.

“It hurts now, but the kids will look back and realize there’s a lot that they accomplished this year,” Minton said.

Elsewhere in the Tri-parishes:

With Patterson stumbling to gain traction against a powerful defense in LaPlace, South Terrebonne suffered the same fate just down the road in Algiers, falling to Karr 21-7 in the Class 4A playoffs.

Unlike the Jacks, the Gators did take momentum into halftime, tying the game at 7 on a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Trevon Smith to James LeBlanc on the final play of the first half.

South Terrebonne couldn’t keep its momentum pushing forward in the second half and were smothered by Karr’s defense.

The Cougars used their extra possessions to wear out the Gators late, pushing in a pair of second half touchdowns to move into the quarterfinals.

The loss ends South Terrebonne’s season with a 9-3 record.

In Class 1A, the mood wasn’t nearly as dreary, as Central Catholic scored early and often, routing Elton 41-7.

With the win, the Eagles will continue their push toward the Superdome next week against arguably their toughest challenger No. 1 Ouachita Christian, who moved to 12-0 on the season with a 41-27 win over Oak Grove.

Ouachita has rarely been challenged throughout the season, but has never faced a team with the star power of the Eagles.

Kickoff for the game will be Friday at 7 p.m.

The game will be played at Ouachita Christian, which is in Monroe.

Patterson High School cornerback Kendall Hunter (right) wrestles for a jump ball with St. Charles Catholic receiver Sammy Miller during Friday’s playoff game. CASEY GISCLAIR