St. Thomas More Solidifies Themselves As One Of The State’s Top Teams With 37-22 Win Over Carencro

Written by Kyle Valdez

In a battle between two of Lafayette’s best teams, Carencro and STM put their perfect 6-0 records on the line at the Cro Dome. Despite a promising start to what seemed like a game going down to the wire, the second half revealed who the stronger team was as STM’s D-Line was unmovable and Carencro snapped countless fumbles. STM rattled off 27 straight points for a convincing 37-22 win.

When running back Kendrell Williams rushed 3 yards for a touchdown, Carencro took a 15-10 lead with 8:41 left in the second quarter. St. Thomas More immediately returned the favor with a Chris Morton touchdown run to give STM a 16-15 edge. For a moment, the contest had all the playoff-like ingredients of a back-and-forth thriller for Acadiana bragging rights. 

Quarterback Walker Howard (LSU commit) finished with 303 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. Howard threw 23-31, including a touchdown pass in the second quarter to fellow LSU commit Jack Bech. Bech displayed his athleticism, bursts of speed, and the ability to break tackles all night.

The story of the second half was the STM defense's ability to contain the rush attack of Carencro. Entering the game, Carencro averaged 39.7 points per game behind the powerful ground game of Kendrell Williams, Traylon Prejean and Jaylon John. 

“Our defense came up big,” Bech said. “Our defense contained the edges, our linebackers filled the gaps in the middle, and our cornerbacks locked the receivers down. Overall, our defense played amazing; they really stepped up. Without them, I don’t if we’re coming out with dub.”

​STM allowed just 7 points in the final 32 minutes of the game. Guys such as Brandon Echelard, Johnpaul Bourgeois, and Gregory Alleman played a crucial role all night. 

Carencro will look to rebound against Westgate in another interesting Lafayette-area matchup. Westgate is 5-2 and ranked #13 in Class 4A. St. Thomas More has an open week scheduled as they prepare for the Division 2 playoffs.

To checkout full highlights & interviews from the game click the link below!!