St. Mary’s outlasted an inspired effort by visiting Montgomery Friday night at Turpin Stadium in a 42-36 victory that earned the local Tigers a first-round bye and a second-round home game in the LHSAA playoffs.
The triumph finished a 9-1 regular season for St. Mary’s as John Paul Thibodaux celebrated Senior Night by running for four touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He scored on runs of 20, 8, 5 and 4 yards.
Preston Tilley ran for a 2-yard TD and threw a two-point conversion pass to Michael French. Weston LeGrand added a four-yard touchdown run.
Montgomery took the lead with 8:18 left to play, going ahead 30-26 with its second TD in less than two minutes after recovering an onside kick.
St. Mary’s responded in championship style. LeGrande’s TD and a two-point conversion run by Gavin Solomon put the local Tigers back on top 34-30 with 6:41 remaining. Tilley’s touchdown and two-point conversion lifted SMHS ahead 42-30 with 4:36 to go.
Montgomery (4-6) came back one more time, scoring with 1:58 left, but was unable to repeat its onside kick success as Tripp Philen recovered for St. Mary’s. The hostTigers clinched the win with a first down that allowed them to run out the clock.
The LHSAA playoff brackets released Sunday have St. Mary’s seeded fifth in Select Division IV, good for a first-round bye this Friday. The Tigers will await the result of the first-round contest between No. 12 Ascension Catholic (8-2) and 21st-seeded Central Catholic (4-6), with that winner traveling to Natchitoches on Friday the 13th.
LAKEVIEW: The Gators ended their season Friday with a 44-8 homefield loss to Ringgold, finishing 2-8, highlighted by two straight victories early in the season as Lakeview stopped a 28-game losing streak and posted its first home win in three seasons, making Homecoming a very happy celebration.