That play, Mandeville head coach Guy LeCompte said, was the proverbial final nail in the coffin. It was just one of several big plays the Skippers (9-2) recorded in a Class 5A first-round playoff game Friday night.

“The one that gives us the most relief is the run at the end of the game,” LeCompte said. “That seemed to have put the game out of reach. It seemed like it made you breath easier.”

While Mandeville may be known as a passing team – quarterback Chad Plaisance threw for more than 300 yards against Jesuit – LeCompte’s offense needs to have a running attack. But lately, he said, that’s been easier said than done.

Friday was no different.

“What teams have done since Fontainebleau was to try to blitz and put more in the box than we can run against,” LeCompte said. “Jesuit presented various looks, mixed up coverages and fronts. It almost required more of a balanced attack. They did a great job defensively. We’re fortunate to come out like we did.”

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Belle Chasse exploded out of the gate in August, winning five straight games to begin the season 5-0. And then the Cardinals hit a four-game slide. It’s not difficult to see why – their schedule was brutal, taking on Vandebilt Catholic, Shaw and Helen Cox. All three teams are still alive in the playoffs.

But then Belle Chasse beat Morgan City in the last week of the regular season, and now the Cardinals are on a two-game win streak after defeating Washington-Marion 49-47 in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs Friday night.

In Friday’s win, a halftime decision turned out to be the type that head coach Bob Becnel was hoping for when he made it. Belle Chasse, after having scored just before halftime, decided to onside kick the football to open the second half.

Belle Chasse got the football, and in so doing, stole the momentum.

“At that point, we were down seven,” Becnel said. “We got the ball back, went down and scored and got the momentum back.”

Nevertheless, it took a defensive stop on a two-pint conversion to seal the win. Despite giving up more than 400 yards rushing, Belle Chasse had to stop a run play to win the game.

“We knew they were probably going to run the ball right at us because that’s where they had the most success,” Becnel said. “The kids came up big and played it well.”

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O.P. Walker’s 28-21 win over Northside could be considered an upset because the Chargers were ranked No. 20 while Northside was No. 13. But Walker head coach Skip Lamothe bristles at the notion. He knows better.

“I think a lot of people were surprised. We weren’t,” Lamothe said. “We prepared and executed. I knew if we executed and took advantage of our strengths compared to their weaknesses, we could win.

“I think it was a surprise because people get so caught up in the rankings. I know I wasn’t surprised.”

Tyrone Duplessis ran for 225 yards to help pace O.P. Walker, which now hosts No. 4 seed Teurlings Catholic. But he wasn’t the key to the win, Lamothe said.

“One of the biggest keys was our defensive coaches made an adjustment at halftime to spy their quarterback, to neutralize him from running,” Lamothe said. “We knew he had the potential to run, but we didn’t think he would.”

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Two weeks in a row now, Willie Brooks’ Cox Cougars have lived and died by the two-point conversion. At least it happened in the right order.

Two weeks ago, in the regular season finale, Brooks called for Oliver Cyprian to run off left guard. Shaw stopped the running back inches short, preserving a 21-20 win.

Friday night, in Cox’s 42-40 win over Breaux Bridge, Brooks called “basically the same play.” This time, it worked. And because it did, the Cougars are still alive in the 4A playoffs, hosting district rival Vandebilt Catholic on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Memtsas Stadium.

“We felt that we learned a lesson against Shaw,” Brooks said. “This time, our kids were determined to get that inch.”

Cox jumped out to a 28-7 lead, then sat back. Breaux Bridge came back and took the lead. Suddenly, the Cougars were playing catch-up with time running out.

“I think our kids kind of, for whatever reason, though it was easy,” Brooks said. “Playing against a team like Breaux Bridge – those guys were in the finals two year ago – our guys needed to learn that lesson, (which) was we have to finish people off.”

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John Curtis Christian School endured one of the toughest weeks ever a week ago when it lost a classmate to a suicide.

What made Curtis head coach J.T. Curtis happy, though, was how his team was able to push through such a demoralizing situation and how his school rallied around each other to support not just the football team, but also the volleyball team, which was in the state tournament.

“One of our psychologists said it would be important if there was something we could build around outside of the regular school day,” Curtis said. “It’s exactly what we needed. That’s the way Curtis people are.”

Friday night, Curtis beat Mamou 56-0. The win came fewer than five days after the on-campus suicide. It would have been easy for the team to come out in a fog.

“It was a tough week.” Curtis said. “I was pleased with how they were able to come out. There wasn’t a lot of emotion. There wasn’t a lot of being up. They went out and did their work and that was really important.”

He added, “Of all the things, I was most pleased with that. In spite of the disaster and difficulty with the week, they went out and did their work and did it well.”