H.L. Bourgeois shut out by St. Charles, 29-0

The Braves played nearly one half of near perfect defensive football. How-ever, with 22 seconds remaining in the opening half, an 18-yard touchdown pass for St. Charles Catholic began a Comets onslaught that continued with the first play from scrimmage in the second half.

After the two-point conversion made the score 8-0, St. Charles Catholic came out the locker room and took the ball 85 yards on one play to take a 15-0 lead. Jonathan Cancienne, who finished the game with 117 yards rushing and three touchdowns, took the carry 85 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown and the momentum.

The Comets held on to the momentum the remainder of the game.

After a H.L. Bourgeois three-and-out, St. Charles Catholic marched 58 yards in nine plays to add to their lead. Cancienne took it in from eight yards out this time for a 22-0 lead. On the drive, Cancienne contributed 29 yards on five carries, but the key play was a questionable pass interference call against the Braves on a third-and-nine play.

Still, the Braves offense answered with another three-and-out, and St. Charles Catholic responded the way they had responded with their first two possessions of the second half — with a score.

The Comets took possession at the Braves 29-yard line, and seven plays later punched it in on a two-yard run by Cancienne. The point after made it 29-0 with 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Comets’ offensive outburst in the second half was in stark contrast to their first half performance. The Braves defense, playing without Kiamni Washington, held St. Charles Catholic to 136 total yards, 40 of which came on the final possession of the first half. However, the Comets gained 206 yards in the second half.

“I’d like to give our defense a lot credit in the first half,” said H.L. Bourgeois coach Randy Boquet. “I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought we held them in check the majority of the first half. That was a good sign. We’ve got to play like that for two halves, though.”

Regardless of how the Braves’ defense played, a large part of the outcome was a result of their ineffectiveness on offense. After combining for 76 points in their first two games of the year, the Braves were shut out, and held to just 94 yards of total of offense. Running back Christian Williams led the way with 40 yards, while Willie McKinley contributed 23 yards.

“I was very concerned about their size and speed, especially with their backs,” said St. Charles Catholic coach Frank Monica. “Everyone of them, when they touch it, they can get out. We’ve seen them on film, and they are scary. I thought the film was stuck on fast forward when I saw (Williams) and (McKinley), so that concerned us all week long.”

The concerns paid off, as H.L. Bourgeois was held to just 77-yards rushing. “The entire game, we never got anything going offensively,” said Boquet. “We could never get any kind of consistency, we could never get in the flow. Again, give St. Charles Catholic credit for that. They did a great job.”

The Braves will have to rebound from the loss when the open district against Ellender Memorial this week. H.L. Bourgeois went undefeated in district 6-5A last season, and is hoping to keep that streak alive. “You put this loss behind you, but you don’t put the lessons learned,” said Boquet. “You apply what you learned, and we learned tonight. We got a bunch of lessons tonight, and the key for us as coaches and players is to take the lessons, learn from them and become a better football team because of it.”

Matt LeBlanc can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or matt@tri-parishtimes.com.