St. Charles Catholic wins back-to-back state championships; overcomes 11-point deficit

NEW ORLEANS (WAFB) - St. Charles Catholic overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to take down Dunham, 32-28, on Friday, Dec. 9, as the Comets won their second-straight state championship.

St. Charles Catholic would receive the ball first and they ripped off a huge 30-yard run from quarterback Ayden Authement to get into Dunham territory. However, the Comets elected to go for it on fourth-and-two and were stopped by the Tiger’s defense.

Dunham would capitalize as Colin Boldt from 52-yards out to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

On the Comets’ second drive of the game, they would go seven plays and find the end zone as Davon Stirgus scored from 21 yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

The Comets and Tigers would exchange punts. Dunham would waste no time on their third possession of the game as Jackson House connected with Jac Comeaux for the 62-yard touchdown on the third play of the drive to take a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.

St. Charles Catholic would answer on the ensuing drive as Samare Scott found the end zone from a yard out again to tie the game at 14-14 at the half.

Dunham picked up where they left off to start the third quarter as House connected with his favorite target, Comeaux for a huge 50-yard gain. House would finish the drive off with a nine-yard touchdown to take a 21-14 lead.

On the Comets’ first drive of the second half, they put together a nice 15-play drive, but the Tigers’ defense made a big play on second down forcing a sack on Authement, and they would force an incompletion on third down. The Comets would have to settle for a 29-yard field goal to cut the lead down to four at 21-17 in the third.

House and the Tigers’ offense would respond as he connected with Jake Rizzo for the touchdown to make it 28-17. However, the Comets would cut into the Tigers’ lead as Authement connected with Daniel Joseph for a 50-yard gain down to the two-yard line.

Authement would convert a third down conversion as he connected with Jackson Monica for the two-yard score and would add two more on the two-point conversion to make it 28-25.

St. Charles Catholic would get the ball back on an onside kick and Authement would score from three yards out to give the Comets a 32-25 lead late in the fourth quarter. It was their first lead of the game.

With less than 40 seconds left to play and Dunham facing third-and-10, House would connect with Jake Dupree for a huge first down.

With 11 seconds left to play and the Tigers’ facing a fourth-and-15 from the 21-yard line, the Comets’ defense made a huge stop as House threw an incomplete pass.

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