A 28-point performance in the third quarter was the spark that ignited Catholic High’s dramatic comeback win over Notre Dame on Thursday.

“Our guys battled for 48 minutes,” said CHS head coach Matt Desormeaux. “We talked about it all week, how it was going to be a war against these guys. They play through the whistle, they never stop no matter what, and we talked about that going into halftime. We were down by seven going into the second half and we knew that we were going to be getting the ball, so I’m just pleased with our guys. They fought the entire time.”

The Panthers entered halftime trailing the Pios 14-7, scoring quickly in the first quarter off a 34-yard touchdown reception by senior Tristan Lewis before giving up a 1-yard QB keeper in the first quarter and a 3-yard rushing TD in the second.

Catholic High returned to the field for the second half with an intensity that has been noticeably lacking in big games in previous years. WR Jaiden Mitchell’s 56-yard catch drew the Panthers level, with the senior dual-sport athlete adding a second touchdown just three-and-a-half minutes later to take the lead.

33-yard and 15-yard passes to Gavin Roy and Joseph LeBlanc, respectively, improved Catholic High’s lead to 21 points. The Notre Dame offense struck back with an 8-yard rushing touchdown of their own, but a 63-yard rushing touchdown by senior Tristan Lewis and a key interception on the goalline by junior Owen Morris sealed the Panthers’ first win over Notre Dame since the 2019 Division III quarterfinals.

“Our defense played lights out throughout the whole game except for that one long sustained drive and one big play, other than that I feel like, against a team like Coach Cook’s Notre Dame, to go out there and slow them down and to hold them to just 28 points on a short field, we played lights out all night,” said Desormeaux about the team’s performance.

Senior QB Luke Landry struggled to find receivers in the first half, going 2-8 under heavy pressure from the Notre Dame defense. Senior lineman Roan Judice was penalized multiple times for holding, further exacerbating the Panthers’ offensive woes, but a refreshed and refocused offensive line returned to the field in the second half and provided Landry with exactly what he needed to end the night with 311 yards and five passing touchdowns.

“I think it was just us going into the locker room, reevaluating everything and just slowing it down,” Judice explained. “At the start, we were trying to run and gun hot and they were blitzing off the edge, sending two off the C gap, so it was really hard to get out there. We slowed it down and you can see the result.”

Desormeaux also praised his offensive line for making the necessary adjustments in the second half.

“I’m super impressed. Our guys up front are young and inexperienced, we have one returning starter, so we knew that how we handled things up front was going to be the big thing in this game,” he said. “I probably didn’t put them in a good position in the first half, we ran a lot of drop-back stuff, but in the second half we tried to speed it up to help them out and they made adjustments and did a great job.”

Jaiden Mitchell led the Panthers’ receiving corps with 156 yards and two TDs from five receptions. Joseph LeBlanc (4-32, 1 TD), Gavin Roy (2-64, 1 TD) and Tristan Lewis (1-34, 1 TD) also provided productive outlets for QB Landry. Lewis added an additional 77 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground from five carries.

Senior kicker Bennet Boudreaux remained perfect this season at extra points, going 6/6 with a missed 35-yard field goal.

Senior linebacker JohnDavid Hidalgo led the team in tackles with six solo tackles, seven assisted tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Zavier Ledet (3 solo, 4 assist), Maxwell Chauvin (2 solo, 4 assist), and Michael Haik (6 assist) also provided the team with stellar defensive performances. Layton Mitchell and Owen Morris each recorded an interception against the Pios.

The win moved Catholic High to 3-1 on the season following statement wins over Comeaux and Patterson. Desormeaux said that his team’s mentality following the win over Notre Dame couldn’t be better.

“We beat two quality teams, teams that we outmatched,” he said. “We lost to(Vermilion Catholic) in a game that I felt we were matchup up pretty well with and in a battle like this we had to find a way to win a tough game and our guys came out in the third quarter with a lot of piss and vinegar and gave it their all.”

Catholic High’s next opponent is a familiar foe. After knocking CHS out of the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, Lake Charles College Prep returns to New Iberia for a Week 5 matchup that will provide the Panthers with an opportunity for revenge.

Judice said that the team needs to maintain the same intensity they displayed in the second half if they want to pick up another win in Week 5.

“I’m expecting us to come out in the first half just like we were in the second half. We can’t have a slow first half like that again,” the senior said. “We had one score in the first half and five in the second, so we have to come out firing just like that.”