SPS goes for 11th straight victory

St. Paul’s Wolves (10-1), the No. 7 seed, travels to Thibodaux tonight to battle the Tigers in the regional round of the LHSAA state football playoffs.

The teams have some history as they locked up in a tremendous playoff contest last year as Thibodaux, the No. 23 seed, knocked the Wolves out of the playoffs by kicking a last second field goal to capture a 25-22 regional round victory at home.

St. Paul’s turned in an impressive performance last week in their 35-14 bi-district round victory over the Destrehan Wildcats, the two-time defending Class 5A champs. St. Paul’s has reeled off 10 consecutive victories after dropping its season opener to Karr 26-24.

Thibodaux (7-4), the No. 23 seed, edged St. Thomas More 15-14 in overtime on the road last week in the bi-district round.

St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears said in week one of the playoffs everybody one through 32 is pretty good. Sears said his club has a big challenge ahead of them with Thibodaux being solid in all three phases.

“The ones left standing after the first week are even better. Thibodaux is a very physical team and is big up front on the offensive line. They have an outstanding quarterback in Trovon Reed. Defensively, they have a tremendous secondary and their linebackers flow to the ball quickly,” Sears said.

Wolves’ junior signal caller Alec Duncan engineered a consistent offense last week connecting on 9-of-13 passes for 246 yards with three TD tosses covering 89 yards to Jermaine Sams, 43 yards to Will Gensler and 3 yards to Stephon Smith.

Duncan has completed 73-of-149 attempts for 1,358 yards with 13 touchdowns. Duncan has done a good job protecting the football throwing just five interceptions.

Sears said Duncan is hitting his stride at the right time of the year.

“Alec has played extremely well during the past four or five ballgames. Last week, he was just outstanding,” Sears said.

Duncan’s talented deep threat, Sams, averages 24 yards per reception. He has 27 catches with seven receiving TDs. Sams pulled down two receptions last week for 126 yards.

The St. Paul’s offense will look to establish the run against Thibodaux running behind the consistent play of the offensive line, which has helped pave the way for the talented trio of Wolves’ running backs. The Wolves have rushed the ball 415 times this season gaining 2,270 yards averaging an impressive 5.4 yards per rushing attempt. Sears said the Wolves plan on sticking with what has gotten them to this point and that is playing to its strength of running the ball.

Stephon Smith, the Wolves’ junior running back and leading rusher, came up big last week with 101 yards on nine carries. Smith has registered 862 yards on 119 carries averaging 7.2 yards per rush. Smith has eight rushing TDs and two receiving. Sophomore fullback Dylan Long has also been a major contributor with 711 yards on 134 rushes averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Long tops the Wolves with 13 rushing touchdowns including two last week covering 2 and 3 yards. Junior Mikhail Washington comes in with 478 yards picking up 5.4 yards per attempt with four rushing scores after missing two games earlier in the year with a sprained ankle.

St. Paul’s defense under the tutelage of coordinator Lee Pierre has continued to excel and swarm to the ball.

Junior defensive back Stephen Smith played a big role in the Wolves’ defense last week picking off three passes all in the second half, which helped St. Paul’s generate 28 second half points. He also broke up a pass and had a solo stop.

Junior backer Tyler Tourelle, the Wolves’ leading tackler, solidified his play last week with 13 tackles, including nine individual stops. He had a tackle for a loss and recovered two key Destrehan fumbles. Tourelle has recorded 72 total tackles including 46 solo stops with three sacks.

Sears said Tourelle had a lights out game.

“He had a ridiculous number of tackles with two fumble recoveries. He was all over the field. He had just an outstanding game. He is definitely an anchor for us in the middle,” Sears said.

Wolves’ senior backer Jeff Pearce registered 11 tackles last week of which nine were primary tackles. He also had a sack and a play for a loss.

Junior defensive back Parker Galloway contributed five tackles last week with two stops for losses and he defended a pass.

Junior tackle Mickey Johnson chipped in with three solo tackles and an assist with a play for a loss.

Senior Houston Bates tops the Wolves with 12 sacks and is the third leading tackler with 53 stops. He has caused four fumbles.

Sears said the key for his defense is that they play well together and communicate when having to shift coverages or blitzes.

Thibodaux head coach Dennis Lorio is in his second-year with the Tigers this time around after serving as the head coach from 1987-91 the first time around.

The Tigers run a multiple scheme offense with senior quarterback Trovon Reed taking the snaps. The Tigers only return two offensive starters with Reed and senior fullback Brandon Duncan. Junior Josh Johnson is the other player who will complement Duncan in the backfield.

Senior Carmichael Green is the Tigers’ top receiver. Coach Lorio said sophomore center Cam Campbell has done a consistent job along with right guard Greg Robinson as the leaders on the offensive line.

Thibodaux runs a multiple defense out of a 4-3 base alignment.

The Tigers return just three defensive starters all in the secondary with senior cornerbacks Tyler Jenkins and Chad Fletcher along with senior safety Javoni Knockum.

Junior ends Harry Ford and Chris LeBlanc anchor the Tigers’ defensive front. Sophomore Trey Granier and junior Kevin Cox lead the Tigers’ linebacking corps.

Lorio described St. Paul’s as an outstanding offensive team with the capability of scoring lots of points.

St. Paul’ s has a very versatile attack with a solid offensive line. They have a very poised quarterback (Duncan), who executes the offense very well. Their three running backs are all very good with Sams being a deep threat as a receiver. Offensively, they can beat you inside, outside and in the passing game,” Lorio said.

Lorio said both teams have good kicking games, which is what it came down to in last year’s Thibodaux three-point victory.

Senior place kicker Drew Williamson, who kicked the game-winner from 42-yards out in a stiff wind is back. Lorio said Williamson has made six field goals this year with long coming from 43-yards out.

“Drew has done an excellent job. He has also done a good job punting,” Lorio added.