Cooper Babin dropped back looking for one last jab in a Thursday night overloaded with swings and found fellow senior Quentin Elisar for a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch in the back corner of the end zone.
Whether St. Amant’s celebratory cannon, the eruption of the sideline and stands or the combination, the moment seemed to shake The Pit as somewhere an exclamation point and an exhale of relief with 12 seconds left in a 60-56 survival of Cecilia.
“As of right now, that is the highlight of my career right there, man,” Babin said. “Like these are my guys. We’ve been playing peewee, been playing middle school and now we’re in high school and now we’re seniors, and we know we get to do our thing out here, and we love it. But that’s one that’s going in the books for sure. That’s my favorite win right there.”
The senior quarterback gashed the Bulldogs with his legs early, then dropped dimes late when cramps started limited his explosiveness when as the track meet of a game wore on.
He finished with a combined eight touchdowns, four rushing and four passing, of the Gators’ nine — each one critical to secure the victory on the birthday of his father, offensive coordinator Seth Babin.
“We knew we were gonna get it done,” Elisar said. “We just had complete trust in each other, and he has that trust in us. And all four of our receivers and our running back, we just have that trust. And offensive line, they’re big, big leaders. So we knew we were gonna go score and win this game, and it just happened.
“It felt great, it felt great. I missed one early, but that one felt great. It really did.”
Elisar found the end zone twice, and fellow senior receivers Jermichael Millien and Landon Blanchard did so once each.
St. Amant scored the game’s first 21 points — Babin’s first two touchdown runs and another by junior running back Jourden Hickerson — and led 33-13 in the final two minutes of the opening half.
But Cecilia, the reigning Division-II Non-Select champion, kept battling back behind its own dual-threat quarterback, Collin Dore, and a cast of dynamic weapons.
Dore and senior Jermaine Davis ran for touchdown just before and after halftime to cut the margin to 33-26.
And the game was officially off to the races with a combined 41-point third quarter that at one point featured three touchdowns in a 31-second span.
A recovery by senior tight end Cooper Ladner of a muffed punt by the Bulldogs helped the Gators get the best of that stretch and maintain a two-score lead through three quarters.
“Every week, we give ’em three keys to victory and one of the ones we had this week was we didn’t have any adversity last week up at Byrd, so I said, ‘Man, we’re gonna have some,'” St. Amant coach David Oliver said. “I didn’t think it was gonna be this stiff, but, ‘You’ve gotta stare it in the eye and attack it as a team,’ and I thought we did that. We stayed together, and we didn’t point fingers. And at the end we found a way to win.”
A Dore throw to senior Malik Joseph pulled the Bulldogs back within 53-48 early in the fourth, their smallest deficit since St. Amant’s first touchdown early. And one of the game’s few stops set up a long drive that junior star Braylon Calais eventually cashed in for a goal-line score and Cecilia’s first lead with 1:17 to play.
The energy on the St. Amant sideline remained high throughout, though, with offensive and defensive players talking turns encouraging one another in between possessions.
And the Gators insisted their confidence never wavered, due in no small part to their veteran leader at the controls of the offense.
“He’s got a lot of experience,” Oliver said. “You know he’s started since he was a freshman, so this is his fourth year getting some action, so he was very calm and cool. And we work this drill every week, so he gets a chance. But that last throw was incredible, and guys just made plays around him. And it was an exciting game.”
St. Amant will host John F. Kennedy next Friday in its second of four straight home games the continues through Week 4 against Scotlandville and into the District 5-5A opener Oct. 3 against Dutchtown.
“We’re gonna be 1-0 every single week — every single play we’re gonna be 1-0,” Elisar said. “We take that mentality into every single game, and we’re just gonna get better and better. Don’t let the Gators get hot.”
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
10:34 — STA — Cooper Babin 27-yard run (Paxton LeBlanc kick) — STA 7-0
8:50 — STA — Cooper Babin 36-yard run (Paxton LeBlanc kick) — STA 14-0
2:59 — STA — Jourden Hickerson 3-yard run (Paxton LeBlanc kick) — STA 21-0
SECOND QUARTER
6:30 — CHS — Collin Dore 16-yard run (run failed) — STA 21-6
4:22 — STA — Cooper Babin 36-yard pass to Jermichael Millien (kick failed) — STA 27-6
3:17 — CHS — Collin Dore 10-yard run (Jace Knott kick) — STA 27-13
1:51 — STA — Cooper Babin 56-yard run (kick failed) — STA 33-13
0:19 — CHS — Collin Dore 23-yard run (Jace Knott kick) — STA 33-20
THIRD QUARTER
11:19 — CHS — Jermaine Davis 67-yard run (Jace Knott kick) — STA 33-27
7:52 — STA — Cooper Babin 4-yard pass to Quentin Elisar (Paxton LeBlanc kick) — STA 40-27
6:46 — CHS — Collin Dore 67-yard pass to Jayden Lewis (Jace Knott kick) — STA 40-34
1:31 — STA — Cooper Babin 4-yard run (Paxton LeBlanc kick) — STA 47-34
1:16 — CHS — Jermaine Davis 77-yard kick return (Jace Knott kick) — STA 47-41
1:00 — STA — Cooper Babin 73-yard pass to Landon Blanchard (kick failed) — STA 53-41
FOURTH QUARTER
9:32 — CHS — Collin Dore 41-yard pass to Malik Joseph (Jace Knott kick) — STA 53-48
1:17 — CHS — Braylon Calais 2-yard run (Collin Dore pass to Deondre Briscoe) — CHS 56-53
0:12 — STA — Cooper Babin 5-yard pass to Quentin Elisar (Paxton LeBlanc kick) — STA 60-56