Pios shine in spotlight

  CROWLEY – If Notre Dame’s Lewis Cook is wearing a bigger than normal smile today, it’s not surprising.
That’s because three of his former pupils (players) made headlines over the weekend for their performances in a pair of postseason games – one in Shreveport and the other in New Orleans.
To wit:
· Nate Link, a stalwart defensive player on the 2014 Notre Dame team, was named the MVP of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association game;
· Brad Stoma, a teammate of Link’s this past fall, threw two touchdown passes in the same game, leading the West to a 24-14 victory;
·  And Hunter Stover, a standout on Notre Dame’s 2009 team,  kicked three field goals, tied one record and broke another in the University of Louisiana-Lafayette’s 16-3 victory over Nevada in the New Orleans Bowl.
For a coach, it doesn’t get much better than seeing former players do well on or off the playing field.
Link, a University of Louisiana-Monroe commitment, was a one-man wrecking crew Saturday in Shreveport, sacking East quarterback Manny Miles four times in earning MVP honors. Overall, the West sacked Miles, son of LSU coach Les Miles, a total of eight times.
“It was amazing and I enjoyed the opportunity of it and I want to thank God for it,” Link told reporters afterward. “I was having fun, cutting loose and letting everything go in my last high school football game.
“(The defensive line) all worked together and we jelled as a team this week. This is a memory I’ll never forget.”
Stoma, meanwhile, played a pivotal role on the offensive side for the West, completing 6-of-10 passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns. His first scoring pass was a 3-yarder to Byrd tight end Michael Dunman and his second, an 11-yard pass to St. Louis’ Dekeinen Francois.
Stoma also completed a 42-yard pass to Comeaux’s Hunter Register to set up a 46-yard field goal by St. Louis Catholic’s Thomas O’Dowd.
In New Orleans, Stover tied a New Orleans Bowl record with his three field goals – 30, 35 and 46 yards. And he tied the event’s record for attempted field goals with four.
His only miss was a 36-yard attempt that sailed wide left.
“I’m gonna think about that field goal I missed more than any of the three I made the rest of my life,” Stover said afterward. “It’s going to keep me determined the rest of my life to keep working.”
The 46-yarder was a career best for Stover, who entered the game 15-for-15 in 2014 on attempts from 38 yards or shorter. His only other misses during the year were from 51, 46 and 46 yards.
  “Never in my life in college had I hit one over 40,” he said. “It’s just haunted me.
“But if I wanted to play well, this is a good stage to do it.
“I did what I always do and the results finally came out.”