Abbeville looks for statement win vs St. Charles

Abbeville High School football coach Roderick Moy is looking for his team to get a statement win this week.
Handing St. Charles Catholic its first loss of the season certainly would make a statement for the 4-1 Wildcats.
The Comets (5-0) are No. 2 in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s unofficial Select Division III power rankings, and No. 2 in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 2A statewide poll, with wins over five Class 4A schools — Archbishop Shaw (17-10), Lutcher (16-14), Teurlings Catholic (48-20), De La Salle (32-14) and Vandebilt Catholic (30-13).
Abbeville is coming off a 41-0 win at West St. Mary, a game that saw the Wildcats get off to a slow start before getting the offense rolling in the second half. Abeville finished with 319 total yards, 240 on the ground and 79 through the air.
“I have to think our kids were looking so much more forward to this weekend, the matchup with St. Charles, two-time defending state champions, a team we felt like we moved the ball well against last year but came up short because of our own mistakes,” Moy said. “We’re very anxious to get another shot at a quality ballclub like this. It can be a real statement win for us, and I think our kids just got caught looking ahead a little bit.”
Moy said that West St. Mary played very hard against the Wildcats this past Thursday, holding Abbeville to 6 points in the first quarter and 6 in the second.
But the Wildcats scored four touchdowns in the second half, three of them in the fourth quarter, including a 38-yard interception return by Deylon Jones for a TD to wrap up the scoring.
“It’s a game we were supposed to win, but (WSM) came out and they didn’t lay down,” Moy said. “They came out and fought the best fight that they could, but I thought our defense was just lights out. They gave us a little time to figure it out, and then once we got going, we were able to put some points on the board.”
The defensive line played really well, Moy said.
“Te’Zarron Stewart is really coming into his own,” the coach said. “They couldn’t block him. He was just physically so much better. He was a terrible matchup for them, and he was in the backfield all night long.”
Abbeville also got touchdown passes from both its quarterbacks. Tahj Judge, who starts on defense and comes in at times mainly as a running threat QB for the Wildcats, had a 30-yard touchdown toss to Artis Latson in the second quarter. Sophomore starter Da’Zavien Maze threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Brian Gordon in the fourth quarter. Judge also had an 11-yard TD run in the fourth period.
“Both guys are very capable,” Moy said. “That’s something that could keep a good team like this off balance. You don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen. Just because Tahj comes into the game doesn’t mean he’s going to run, or pass, he’s a capable quarterback as well. Both quarterbacks I thought played really well and managed the game. It’s all hands on deck when you play a team of this character. Hopefully it keeps them off balance.”
The Wildcats haven’t thrown the ball as much as some teams, but Maze has passed for 123 yards an Judge for 96. Latson leads the Wildcats with six receptions for 89 yards and a TD and Gordon has 83 yards and a TD on two catches.
Abbeville has a pair of runners with over 400 yards on the ground — Edmar Simon III with 486 yards and five touchdowns on 49 carries and Justin Montgomery with 404 yards and three TDs on 64 rushes. Tazavian Andrews (24-175, 1 TD) and Zylun Wiliams (17-123, 4 TDs) also are over 100 yards on the ground.
St. Charles, which was state runner-up in 2019 and 2020 before winning the last two Select Division III state championships, also won a state title in 2011 and was runner-up in 2004 and 2005. The Comets present a challenge to Abbeville, but also the opportunity for a big win.
“Anytime you play a quality opponent like this, you’re really going to play up,” Moy said. “We’ve had two really good days of practice so far.
“Our kids are really welcoming the challenge. We want to go out and see how good we really are. This is one of those games that’s really going to test that and show us where we are, because of the teams they’ve beat, they’re 5-0, the things they’ve done in the past, the tradition. Being able to go over there and compete well, our kids are really excited about the opportunity we have. This would be very much a statement win for our program.”
Moy said the Comets are a sound team.
“They don’t make the mistakes other teams make,” he said. “They do a great job of getting to the perimeter with their sprint-out game. They’re not going to just sit back there and let their quarterback be a sitting duck for pass rushers like we have. That’s going to be the key to the game, to keep their quarterback in the pocket and make them more conventional.
“And then we’ve got to score ourselves. We had almost 400 yards of offense against those people last year, but only came away with 13 points. That’s what’s going to be the difference in the game — us not hurting ourselves with penalties, and being able to finish off drives to give ourselves a chance to score with these guys.”