Championship Top Performers: St. Charles vs. Lafayette Christian

Louisiana’s first state championship contest to wind down its memorable 2021 season was ripe with storylines. The Division-III title game pitted Lafayette Christian and St. Charles against one another for a third straight December. The Knights had claimed both those meetings to become just the seventh program in LHSAA history to win four consecutive championships and were on their "Drive for 5" to join only John Curtis (2004-2008) in even rarer air. The Comets meanwhile had overcome major impact from Hurricane Ida and played their first season under new head coach Wayne Stein, a longtime assistant under the retired Frank Monica, on the road because of the storm’s destruction to their facilities. St. Charles set the tone early with its defense and special teams and, even when Lafayette Christian made its late comeback, had one final special teams highlight to go back ahead for good and another on defense to seal the 32-27 victory. Here were some of the teams’ top performers. <strong>ST. CHARLES CATHOLIC</strong> <strong>Ayden Authement (2023)</strong> <strong>QB/ATH</strong> The junior took the reins of the offense this season and allowed senior [player_tooltip player_id="187817" first="Zack" last="Vicknair"], the Comets’ quarterback from last year’s runner-up run, to move to running back and complement one another in the backfield. Authement was the team’s most effective offensive weapon in a battle of defense and special teams. He rushed 26 times for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving on a trick play to help keep control of the game in the third quarter. <strong>Bryce Bertucci (2022)</strong> <strong>DB</strong> One of a long list of senior leaders who waged an impressive, fast and physical defensive effort to not only make yards and points difficult to come by for the highly touted Knights, but score some points of their own and set Authement and company up in prime position for more. Bertucci helped force one of those fumbles that senior linebacker Brock Dunn recovered to help to set the Comets’ offense up for a quick score. <strong>Kyle Cannon (2024)</strong> <strong>6-1, 200 LB</strong> One of the younger Comets, a potential up-and-coming star, earned Outstanding Player recognition for his performance on defense and special teams. Cannon came up with some of the biggest plays of the both consistent and opportunistic team effort, a second-quarter interception that led to a field goal, helping provide some of the strong pressure that led to two blocked punts and then the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning touchdown on a recovery of a botched punt snap. <strong>Carter Chauvin (2022)</strong> <strong>K</strong> In a game where defense and special teams won more battles against the offense than not, the Comets’ senior kicker proved reliable and critical once again with three field goals to help put St. Charles on the board first and keep stretching the lead. <strong>Regdrick Hackett (2022)</strong> <strong>5-10, 150 DB</strong> Several defensive backs, including cornerback [player_tooltip player_id="138329" first="Kaden" last="Foster"] and safety Ian Arnett, played well to help keep the Lafayette Christian receivers contained. And, in keeping with the theme, Hackett helped make pivotal plays on both defense and special teams to help highlight the win. The senior led the rush for one of the blocked punts and swiped the final interception in the fourth quarter to shut down the Knights’ last possession and begin winding down the clock. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136614" first="Kaiden" last="Jones"] (2022)</strong> <strong>6-0, 215 LB</strong> The Comets’ top college prospect this season was among the impact players in last year’s state championship game as as a junior and left his mark again in his final high school game, including helping block one of the punts and force a fumble. &nbsp; <strong>LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN</strong> <strong>Will Emanis (2022)</strong> <strong>5-10, 180 LB</strong> The Knights made moving the football difficult for St. Charles, as well. Senior star [player_tooltip player_id="136581" first="Fitzgerald" last="West"] Jr. played most of the defensive snaps in the middle up front after being able to focus mostly on his work on the offensive line this season. And other seniors, such as [player_tooltip player_id="136610" first="Masey" last="Lewis"] and Brayden Zeigler, whom Prep Redzone Louisiana has highlighted before helped get push up front, clog lanes and limit gains. But two other players whose names were called frequently in that stout effort were senior linebacker Will Emanis and sophomore linebacker Sandy Lewis. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136632" first="Brylan" last="Green"] (2022)</strong> <strong>5-9, 165 DB</strong> The senior safety is a top performer just about every week. He covers so much ground so quickly that it can feel like there are two of him on the field at times and he is more than comfortable with contact as one of the most aggressive and hardest-hitting players despite his smaller-than-prototypical size. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="139261" first="Ju’Juan" last="Johnson"] (2024)</strong> <strong>5-10, 175 QB</strong> Saturday afternoon was not the young quarterback’s best day, as the St. Charles defense presented challenges that made it impossible to replicate the dominant evening in the semifinals a week earlier. But when Lafayette Christian was finally able to put together any sort of offensive success, Johnson was the one providing the spark. He bought time, escaped pursuit and broke several long runs for 175 yards on 22 carries, and that threat began opening up a few more opportunities through the air to eventually complete 10 of his 22 passes for 93 yards and three touchdowns.