Pios host West St. Mary in district opener

CROWLEY – The second season begins Friday night when Notre Dame hosts West St. Mary in the District 6-3A opener at Gardiner Stadium. It’s been a rough first five weeks for league teams with only nine combined wins by the six league members.
Notre Dame will begin its quest for an eighth straight district championship. The Pios have earned 14 such trophies in 17 seasons under head coach Lewis Cook.
“Regardless of the number of wins teams have, we know every team will still be competitive. We talked with the team to make sure they understand that district is another step we take in the season. You have the scrimmages, the jamboree, the first five games and each is a step to get where we are and where we want to be. Last week wasn’t a step like we wanted, but we also don’t want to build everything up about winning the first five games.”
West St. Mary has failed to mark in the win column this season. Erath has won two games after starting 0-3, Abbeville is winless and North Vermilion is 1-4. Only Kaplan is on the positive side with its record after three straight wins following being shut out in its first two games.
“We talked with the team and they know it has never been about the opponents,” added Cook. “It’s about what we have to do for our team to get better. There is always the big picture in the back of their mind, the idea of playing for a championship. What we did this week is pull back and look at where we have to improve to get there.”
Cook has always taken the approach of challenging competition in the pre league schedule. As disappointing as last week and a 3-2 start may seem, the Pios now look to start fresh in the second season.
“You never really know where you will be. Win or lose we just try to take a step forward in everything we do. The situation we were in last week and some things that happened with injuries meant some guys got extended time on the field. We saw a team having to fight back and reach down. That will be good for our team as we go forward.”
EXTRA POINT
It is understandable if Notre Dame players looked a little unsettled against Catholic High last Thursday. The Pios are accustomed to being on the up side of lopsided scores and history supports a lack of experience in dealing with such a situation.
The 56 points scored by Catholic High was the most ever against a Notre Dame team and the only time an opponent has ever scored in the fifties. In the forty-eighth season and with 594 games of football in the books, an opponent has scored forty or more points just 11 times.
Cecilia held the previous high score with a 49-0 win in the 1990 season. That was a tough year for Notre Dame with only one win. Three other teams scored in the forties as the Pios also dropped games to Eunice (40-0), Port Barre (41-7) and Iota (40-0).
Patterson won 46-20 in a 2002 semifinal playoff game for the largest post season point total against the Pios. It is interesting to note a 48-6 regular season loss to Evangel in 1998 is included in the total, but was later reversed to a win when Evangel had to forfeit games that year due to player violations.
Make a mental note of all these fun facts because you are not likely to see a score like that again anytime soon involving the Pios.
GAME BALL AWARDS
Big Play of the Game – Damon Comeaux – In the situation of a lopsided loss, this is more like “player” of the game. When Lance Bertrand left with an ankle injury on the third play of the second quarter, Comeaux took over the backfield load and was a shining star on an otherwise cloudy evening. Comeaux carried 16 times for 149 rushing yards and scored three times on runs of 21, 41 and 15 yards. He also caught a six yard pass.
Paul Guidry, Patrick Burleigh, Joe Faulk – Three guys asked to step into leading roles and take on increased responsibilities. Junior Guidry started in the defensive line making 7 solo stops and 11 total tackles with three for losses. Sophomore Burleigh stepped in at middle linebacker and led the Pios with 13 tackles including 9 solo stops. Senior Faulk took every snap at quarterback, was often under pressure and forced to scramble for survival, kept playing after turning an ankle and hung in for the duration throwing one of the best looking, on target, deep touchdown passes seen in several seasons by a Pios QB.
Adam Berken – Also saw increased work load, playing at receiver, and was on the other end of the 43 yard TD pass from Faulk. Berken made a tough catch inside the five yard line with a defender hanging on and pulled free to get into the end zone.
SCOUTING REPORT
The transition from 2A to 3A has been a struggle for West St. Mary. After going winless two seasons ago, the Wolfpack posted a 4-6 record in 2013, but only one of those wins came in league play.
This will be the second meeting ever between the two teams and West St. Mary would just as soon forget about the first. In last year’s game, the Pios defense forced two fumbles and four punts on six first half possessions on the way to a 35-0 first half lead.
Notre Dame scored the first three times it had the ball on offense and on five of six first half possessions. The Pios starters had a short night, many not even making it to halftime before retiring for the evening as the Pios cruised to a 35-6 win.
Wolfpack coach Marquis Newsome is still looking for a win this season. West St. Mary dropped three straight road games to open the year, falling late to Opelousas (23-20), and being outmanned by Loreauville (54-6) and Morgan City (48-12). A home opener against Northwest was close until late with the Raiders pulling away, 42-28. West St. Mary travelled to Ferriday last Friday and came up on the short end of a 28-16 score.
The facts are scarce coming out of West St. Mary, but what the early season has shown is that the Wolfpack relies on senior quarterback Shelby Phillips (5-7, 160) and junior running back Terrance Ballet (5-8, 180). Senior La’Bryson Polidore (5-7, 180) gets a share of carries and also takes direct snaps in the wildcat formation.
Junior Akiem Gabriel (5-8, 220) anchors the defensive front. Senior tackle Quentrell Jackson (6-1, 180) adds size and sophomore linebacker Cristian Barard (6-0, 195) is very active.
“They have some athletes on the field we will have to contain in their offense,” noted Pios coach Cook. “They are playing a lot of young guys on defense, but were able to put together a good performance last week against Ferriday and ran back an interception for a score. Ferriday threw the ball a little more than we do, so we’ll see how they handle our running game.”