St. Charles Catholic Grapples with Setbacks After Championship Success
by: Lori Lyons // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Everything was going great at St. Charles Catholic High School in LaPlace.
After legendary coach Frank Monica retired early in 2021 and handed the reigns of the Comets football team off to his longtime assistant coach – and nephew – Wayne Stein (who also coaches the baseball team), no one batted an eye. The program was in good hands. Everyone expected the transition to be seamless.
And it was.
The Comets didn’t miss a beat in 2022, finishing the season 11-3 and winning the Division III state title with a 32-28 victory over Dunham. Then Stein went right to baseball and won himself a state championship there too.
In 2023, the Comets carried on as usual, going 12-0 on the way to their third consecutive trip to the finals. But this one ended with a 34-28 loss to Calvary Baptist. The baseball team also lost in the finals to University High, 11-8.
Suddenly, there was disappointment among the fans.
“It was a phenomenal run,” he said. “For a long time, we were happy just to get there. Last year to have two runners-up … I’m proud of that. Even though it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, I’m proud that we raised the stakes so much that having three runner-up trophies at our athletic banquet was a failure of a year.”
But things have gotten no easier for the Comets, especially after moving up from Class 2A to 4A for the first time.
As the 2024 football season reaches the halfway point, St. Charles Catholic has yet to win a game. The Comets are currently 0-4, with one game canceled due to Hurricane Francine. Their streak of 688 consecutive regular-season games ended, along with a streak of 702 days without a loss.
It hasn’t been easy for Stein, his players, or his community.
“We are a little bit spoiled, my community and my players,” he said. “I think we’re eating a little bit of Humble Pie right now, but that’s something that’s going to be good for us and I hope we can overcome it. I wasn’t naïve to think that what we’ve been doing would be like that every year.”
Things don’t get easier this week as the Comets play host to Class 5A opponent Terrebonne, which is 4-1 with wins over Riverside, St. James, and Destrehan. Their only loss was a 51-32 decision at Hahnville.
“I didn’t schedule one win,” Stein said. “I scheduled the best schedule I thought we could play. I thought our program was at that point that, in the day and age of social media, I think you’ve got to play good people for people to come to the games. That’s what I went out and did.”
Stein said his players have handled the adversity just fine.
The players have been great,” he said. “We’re still making some mistakes. But I don’t think if you’d come watch us practice you could tell we were 0-3 or 3-0 and I’m proud of that. Our coaching staff has stuck together and we continue to soul search (about) what are some of the things? And I’ve told the kids, when it’s time for us to win, we’ll win. There’s things we’re doing on Friday that aren’t winning football. There’s things we need to do better as a coaching staff. I’ve been surprised and excited about the way we’ve attacked each day, but we’re going to have to play better if we want it to change.”