By David Folse, Contributing writer
Bay St. Louis, Miss.—The nephew of one of the greatest football players in the state of Mississippi and in the history of the National Football League put on a show Friday night.
St. Stanislaus senior quarterback Max Favre, the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre, threw five touchdown passes as the Rock-a-Chaws (4-3, 1-1 Miss. Region 4A) defeated Bay High 42-35 in the Sanderson Farms/New Orleans Saints High School Mississippi Game of the Month on Friday, Oct. 11.
Trailing 21-19 coming out of the halftime locker room, Thomas Williams blocked a punt for St. Stanislaus on Bay High's first possession. Five plays later Favre found Dallas Payne for a five-yard touchdown to give the Rock-a-Chaws a 25-21 advantage.
A 30-yard field goal by Gene Hoffman extended the St. Stanislaus lead to 28-21 midway through the third quarter.
"It's the battle of the crab trap and it always feels good to beat your rival," Payne said. "We get bragging rights for a year and get to take home the trophy. Credit our defense for getting the stops when we needed it the most."
Bay High sophomore running back Noah Cutter kept his squad in the game, tying the contest 28-28 when he scampered 64 yards for a touchdown, his third of the game, but Davien Lagarde and the Rock-a-Chaws immediately responded with a touchdown drive of their own with a three-yard touchdown run by Lagarde to give St. Stanislaus back the lead at 34-28.
Cutter's fourth touchdown gave Bay High a chance, cutting the lead to 42-35 and the Tigers had the ball at midfield with under four minutes remaining in the game, but were unable to score.
A match-up featuring the high-powered passing attack of St. Stanislaus against the rushing attack of Bay High, the Rock-a-Chaws got on the board first when Favre connected with Bradley Darby for a 20-yard touchdown, the first of two scoring connections to Darby.
"I was feeling good and in rhythm from the start," Favre said. "My teammates made me look good."
Bay High immediately responded as Denim Lombard took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for the tying touchdowns. The Tigers took a 14-7 advantage when Cutter found the end zone from 16 yards out.
After Favre connected with Darby again, this time on a 45-yard scoring strike (St. Stanislaus missed extra-point), Cutter answered with his second touchdown run of the first half, capping off an 80-yard drive to give Bay High a 21-13 advantage.
Late in the first half, Favre threw his third touchdown when he found Connor Ladner from 13 yards out to cut the deficit to 21-19 after a failed two-point conversion attempt for the Rock-a-Chaws.
Bay High (5-2, 0-2) remains at home next week to take on Moss Point, while St. Stanislaus returns home to take on South Plaquemines out of Louisiana.
