Comeaux Goes Off On St. Martinville In 52-0 Shutout

by Dan McDonald (Special To Acadiana Postgame)

Who cares that it wasn’t a district game?

For Comeaux, after two hearbreaks in the past three weeks, it was much needed. And for the rest of Class 5A, it was a statement that the Spartans deserve some notice when playoff time comes around.

The Spartans made it look easy in their Homecoming celebration Friday, scoring on six of their first seven offensive possessions. They also got a touchdown and a safety along with great field position from the defensive unit, and never looked back in rolling to a 52-0 win at Spartan Stadium.

Tiki Pascual rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns and Brett Dotson threw for two scores – and that was just in the first half. In fact, Pascual topped the 100-yard rushing mark only 16 minutes into the game in leading a Spartan offense that totaled 257 yards on the way to a 38-0 halftime edge.

“We’ve been right there on the verge,” said Comeaux coach Doug Dotson. “We were due to explode on somebody.”

The Spartans (5-2) more than shook off the effects of a heartbreaking 42-38 loss to District 3-5A leader Acadiana last Friday night by controlling the visiting Tigers (3-4), who have now lost three in a row after a 3-1 start.

How much control? Except for a kneeldown at the halftime horn, beginning at the three-minute mark of the first period, every offensive snap for two full quarters came in St. Martinville’s end of the field. The second half was mercifully played with a running clock.

“We needed that,” said Dotson, whose team lost last-minute battles to Sulphur and Acadiana in two of the last three weekends with a late victory over Sam Houston in between. “We’ve played some really tough teams over the last two or three weeks. Those games were close, but it’s tough convincing kids that you’re a good football team when you don’t get those wins. The kids did a good job, to dominate them the way we did. They (St. Martinville) are not a bad football team by any means.”

Pascual set a tone early, going for 14 yards on the game’s first offensive play and then twisting loose from two tackles and bouncing back inside on a 43-yard touchdown ramble only 36 seconds into the game.

On the ensuing possession, Tiger quarterback Jared Davis took his squad on its deepest penetration of the game, hitting Deantre James with a 36-yard pass to the Spartan 10. James fumbled when hit, though, and Christian Archangel recovered for Comeaux.

That was the first of two big defensive plays for Archangel, who also had an interception that set up Gabe Ardoin’s three-yard scoring run midway through the third period. Cameron Babineaux also picked off a Davis pass in the final minute of the third quarter, outwrestled a Tiger receiver for the ball, and returned it cross-field 79 yards for Comeaux’s final touchdown.

After that initial drive, St. Martinville never got inside the Comeaux 30 against a defense that also recorded five sacks.

After Archangel’s recovery, the rest of the first half was a Spartan showcase. Dotson had three completions in an 80-yard drive capped by Ardoin’s three-yard scoring run with 1:08 left in the first period. One possession later, Dotson capped a 45-yard drive with his first scoring pass, hitting wide-open tight end Jalen Johnson in the end zone from eight yards out.

Two plays later Comeaux’s defense hit the board when James was tackled in the end zone after a screen pass for a safety. Again, two plays after the kickoff, Dotson hit a streaking Tanarious Achan down the middle for a 34-yard score and a 31-0 lead.

An 11-yard punt set the Spartans up for their final score one minute before halftime, one that Pascual provided on a one-yard run at the end of a 41-yard drive for the 38-0 halftime score.

“I think we played our best football of the season tonight,” Dotson said. “Our offensive line has been playing great … we challenged those guys to step up and dominate, and they did that.”

Comeaux 52, St. Martinville 0
SMSH    0    0    0   0 -- 0
COM     15  23  14  0 -- 52
First Quarter
COM – Tiki Pascual 43 run (Brett Dotson kick)
COM – Gabe Ardoin 3 run (Grant Emfinger kick)
Second Quarter
COM – Jalen Johnson 8 pass from Dotson (Emfinger kick)
COM – Safety, Deantre Jones tackled in end zone
COM – Tanarious Achan 34 pass from Dotson (Emfinger kick)
COM – Pascual 1 run (Emfinger kick)
Third Quarter
COM – Ardoin 3 run (Emfinger kick)
COM – Cameron Babineaux 79 interception return (Emfinger kick)

SMSH    COM
First downs            9          18
Rushing Yards      73        194
Passing Yards      53        118
Total Yards          126        312
Comp-Att-Int     5-15-2    7-15-0
Punts                 5-26.8    2-41.0
Fumbles-lost        2-1         3-0
Penalties-yards   9-75       6-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – SMSH: Travien Benjamin 6-41, Deantre James 2-24, Nakavin Batiste 3-10, Dylan Doucet 2-6, Markavon Williams 1-minus 3, Jared Davis 9-minus 5. COM: Tiki Pascual 16-120 2 TD, Gabe Ardoin 9-35 2 TD, Tanarious Achan 3-14, Donavon Batiste 7-14, Andrew Simon 3-13, team 1-minus 2.
PASSING – SMSH: Davis 5-15-2, 53 yds. COM: Dotson 7-15-0, 118 yds., 2 TD.
RECEIVING – SMSH: James 2-30, Daniel Marshall 1-18, Doucet 1-3, Marcus Cormier 1-2. COM: Achan 3-56 1 TD, Jalen Johnson 2-37 1 TD, Izayah Thomas 1-13, Devin Shockley 1-12.