The Cardiac Cougars did it again.
For the second straight week, St. Thomas More (2-2) scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to come back and upend another of Louisiana’s traditional powers, this time erasing a 16-point deficit to Neville (2-2).
Senior quarterback Cole Bergeron connected with Christian Breaux and Jared Quoyeser to pull the Cougars back within three points, then following a successful onside kick, found birthday boy Carter Meaux streaking across the middle of the field to convert a fourth-and-10 and claim the home team’s first lead.
Junior defensive end Hayden Hemard deflected a pass on the Tigers’ ensuing drive, and sophomore linebacker Heath Hernandez calmly pulled down the interception for the 27-23 victory.
“We’ve been in that position before,” Bergeron said. “So going into halftime, we were in our team meetings and we were talking, ‘We’re still in this thing. It’s a two-possession game, and we’ve got the ball after halftime. Go make something happen.’ I mean, we did it before. We did it last week down even more points. We’re a very talented group, and I think these guys should be proud of what we did tonight.”
A week after overcoming a 21-point deficit to Acadiana (1-3), the Cougars fell behind Neville, 16-0, after a first half of miscues and missed opportunities.
The Tigers found the end zone twice. an early goal-line run by sophomore Jarvis Blackston and a 38-yard strike from junior quarterback Parker Robinson to senior pass-catcher Ze’land Young. In between, they added a safety when one of St. Thomas More’s several low snaps drifted Bergeron out the back of the end zone.
“Going into halftime, we felt confident because on film we were playing well, but production-wise we just weren’t getting the completions when we needed the completions, and they were doing a good job getting us off the field,” St. Thomas More offensive coordinator Shane Savoie said. “It was frustrating, but it wasn’t dire straits, because our defense, man — they held us in the game. You go into halftime, you’re still down two scores and you get the ball. We just felt really confident we would be able to put some stuff together, and we did.”
Senior wide receiver Kyle Guillot provided the Cougars a much-needed spark with a 76-yard kick return to open the second half and great starting field position just 20 yards from goal.
And Bergeron found senior running back Carter Melancon a few plays later for a 10-yard touchdown to finally put the home team on the scoreboard, 16-6.
The teams battled back and forth through forced punts and turnovers on downs. But when the fourth quarter arrived, Bergeron and company immediately appeared to catch fire with three quick completions capped by Breaux’s leaping grab in the end zone.
“One thing this year that I’m very proud of is that I haven’t seen any guys in the locker room that have been doubting,” Bergeron said. “Everybody’s been keeping the grind going every week, getting better and better in practice. Sure, there might be some doubts outside of the locker room or outside of the team… That’s something we’ve got to block out, which we did, and that’s why we got the result we got.”
Robinson and the Tigers responded with the type of drive that often closes wins: 12 plays, 80 yards, just over six minutes and a pair of fourth-down conversions, including the 24-yard touchdown to Young.
But St. Thomas More would not fold.
The Cougars pushed down to the Neville 35-yard line where Bergeron evaded pressure, rolled out to his right and found a wide-open Quoyeser over the top of the defense.
St. Thomas More recovered an onside kick moments later and put together its own winning drive with two fourth-down conversions, including the 39-yard touchdown to Meaux to pull ahead with just 1:34 remaining.
“We had a route going above the top, and I guess the safety and the middle linebacker went with that guy,” Meaux said. “So I came wide-open up the middle, and there was nobody left, so I cut up and went to the right, and it was just wide-open, so I ran.
“I was excited for the touchdown, but the job wasn’t finished, for sure. Our defense still had to close it out with a pick, and that was huge. And from there, it was just awesome. I still don’t believe it.”
