Lafayette High Dances In The Rain Against Comeaux

 “The conditions were pretty atrocious,” Domengeaux said. “But think back when you were a kid ... this was the kind of conditions you wanted to play in, with all the mud and water. Those kids had a good time.”

It was made better, at least for the Mighty Lions, who took a 30-6 win over crosstown rival Comeaux in their District 3-1A contest – one played in a deluge that included a 40-minute lightning delay.

It was also made better by the Lions (3-7, 1-5) rushing for 284 yards in the wet and mud against the Spartans, and Trey Davis did most of the literal dirty work.

The junior running back ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns, all of them on breakaway runs, and added a two-point conversion after his final touchdown. Two of those scores came in the second half, after the Spartans (3-7, 0-6) had kept it close with a solid first-half defensive effort and Justin Martin’s 63-yard scoring run midway through the second quarter.

But other than that run, the LHS defense held Comeaux to only 43 offensive yards the rest of the game, helped by some fumbles that wound up major negative plays.

In all, the Spartans lost six total fumbles in the consistent rain, and had only 13 offensive yards in the second half.

 “The conditions were a lot more conducive to what we want to do offensively than what Comeaux does,” Domengeaux said. “We did a good job of controlling the ball, and considering the conditions we did a good job of holding onto the football.”

Rain began falling lightly just prior to kickoff and grew harder throughout the first quarter, and in between the first and second periods lightning lit up the sky just to the west of Mighty Lion Stadium. Game officials cleared the field and didn’t allow the teams back out until the lightning threat subsided.

The rain rarely slacked off, but at least the game was able to be completed between two clubs who did not have playoff aspirations and were finishing their season.

LHS did get its last score after one Comeaux fumble, but it was a special-teams play that was the back-breaker for the Spartans late in the third period. The Lions led by only 14-6 when Khale Schexnayder found a gap and flew in to block Grant Emfinger’s punt, and teammate Thaquan Priestley recovered for the Lions inside the 10.

A penalty pushed the Lions back, but three plays later Davis shook off a tackle around the left side and went for a 20-yard score to boost the Lions’ advantage to 22-6 after quarterback Dwight Youngblood threw a two-point conversion pass to Hunter Merry – the only completed pass by either team in the second half.

From that point on, Comeaux had only one first down the rest of the game.

“Our defense played hard and tackled well, and that’s not easy in these kind of conditions,” Domengeaux said. “When it’s like this, it can really change the complexion of the game, but I’m really happy with the way our kids handled it.”

An exchange of fumbles, with the sidelines already past ankle-deep in water, gave Lafayette High possession at the Comeaux 30 early in the fourth quarter. Davis provided the final tally from there, capping a four-play drive with a 16-yard burst up the middle to make it 30-6 after his own two-point conversion run.

In addition to Davis, Trevin Kelly went for 117 yards on only 13 carries for the Lions. Kelly had LHS’ other touchdown with a 36-yard scoring run on the fifth play of the second quarter after the lengthy delay.

That gave the Lions a 14-0 lead with 9:12 left in the second quarter, but one play after the ensuing kickoff, Martin found a seam up the heart of the LHS defense and went 63 yards for the Spartans’ only touchdown. Martin finished the game with 85 rush yards, providing all but 24 of the Spartans’ offensive total.

Davis ended up over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, finishing with 1,131 yards in 10 games.

“Our guys up front did a good job and those two guys ran hard,” Domengeaux said of Davis and Kelly. “They pretty much controlled things in the middle.”