In a matchup last Friday between two powerhouses at the 4A level, St. Thomas More was able to defeat LCA on the road and finish 2023 with an undefeated regular season as well as the district championship. St. Thomas More was led by senior quarterback Sam Altmann, who finished the game with 275 yards with a touchdown while running for two more. John Luke St. Pierre totaled 163 yards on 27 carries and one touchdown. Gabe Mocek took 20 carries for the Cougars, running for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
For St. Thomas More, the winning touchdown was caught by Sanders Foreman, who caught 5 passes in total for 102 yards. Landon Strother was the next leading receiver for the Cougars, with 5 receptions for 80 yards.
For the LCA Knights, LSU commit Ju’Juan Johnson put on a show, throwing for 395 yards on 19 completions, with 3 passing touchdowns. Johnson used his legs as well, rushing for 143 yards and an additional touchdown on the ground. Jalen Noel took 12 carries for 68 yards, rounding out the Knights rushing attack.
LCA saw three impactful performances through the air: Trae Grogan caught six passes for 154 yards, T.J. Marzell caught four passes for 91 yards, and Brennan Walker caught five passes for 94 yards.
This game came down to the wire. With the score sitting at 37-33, and less than two minutes in regulation left, a high snap to Altmann at the one-yardline was recovered by LCA’s Cooper Martin returned the ball 99-yards for a defensive touchdown to put the Knights ahead at 40-37. Altmann and the offense trotted back onto the field, needing a field goal to tie and a touchdown to win. Driving down the field, Altmann found Foreman for the game-winning score, taking over the lead, but this one wasn’t over yet.
Johnson and the LCA offense moved quickly, and put themselves in a position for a reasonable chance to score. However, Johnson wasn’t able to connect with Grogan, and the Cougars took victory.
Both teams battled it out for another classic finish in this rivalry. With both teams being on opposite sides of the Division II (Select) bracket, there is a good chance that we could possibly see this matchup for the second year in a row in the Superdome at the end of the year.
Check out all the photos taken by Jason Saucier this week!
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