Even the Wild Panther offense couldn’t turn the tide for Catholic High on Friday.

After a first half that saw the Panthers struggle to only nine rushing yards, CHS began the second half with three direct snaps to wide receiver Ridge Gonsoulin in Catholic High’s version of the Wild Hog offense popularized at the University of Arkansas under coach Houston Nutt.

But after a good start to the third quarter, a high snap over Gonsoulin’s head lost 21 yards, and a holding penalty three plays later helped kill the CHS drive, and the Panthers were never able to establish a successful ground game in their 16-7 loss to the Saints.

Brady Rogers (20) takes a handoff from Catholic High quarterback Taylor Bullock (11) during the Panthers’ homecoming game against St. Louis Catholic on Friday. Bill Smith The Daily Iberian Advertisement

CHS coach Craig Brodie said Catholic High’s offensive struggles had a lot to do with the St. Louis defense. The Saints (3-1) reached the quarterfinals last year and had the majority of their defense back.

“It’s got a lot to do with them,” said Brodie. “We had a hard time running the football.

“We knew they had eight or nine back on defense. That was their strength.”

And the Panthers didn’t help things with several high and low snaps and a costly penalty or two.

“We can move the ball, but how many times did we have second and 20?” said Brodie. “We snapped the ball over the quarterback’s head, we had a couple of holding penalties. it’s hard to gain 10 yards, let alone 20.

“They didn’t really stop us on offense. We had so many mistakes.”

Neither team did much offensively, with the teams combining for 14 puns. The Panthers (1-3) finished the game with only 6 yards on the ground and passed for 124 yards, while St. Louis (3-1) rushed for 166 and threw for 66.

“I expected it to be a tough game,” said St. Louis coach Mike Johns. “I thought our defense did an outstanding job. We knew going in with their quarterback we had to stop the run and pass. I was very impressed with their quarterback and receivers coming in.”

The teams combined for zero first downs in the opening quarter before CHS got rolling with a big pass play and a fortunate bounce on a fumble in the second period. Quarterback Taylor Bullock hit Gonsoulin downfield for a big gain, and though Gonsoulin eventually fumbled, teammate Cory Brodie was there to pick up the ball on one hop and advance it all the way to the St. Louis 16.

Four plays later, on fourth-and-one, Gonsoulin carried the ball to the left, getting outside the defense to stroll in for a seven-yard touchdown run. The point-after by Michael Robicheaux made it 7-0 with 8:56 to go in the half.

But a 48-yard return of the ensuing kickoff set up a two-play scoring drive that knotted the score. Craig Rodriguez rambled for 34 yards on the first play following the kick, and quarterback Billy Christian carried it the final three yards on the next snap. James Bice made the point after kick to pull St. Louis even at 7-7 with 8:08 remaining.

CHS marched from its 24 to the St. Louis 32 on its next possession before turning the ball over on downs, and St. Louis went ahead for good on the ensuing possession with a 68-yard scoring drive capped by Christian’s one-yard run with 29.5 seconds to go in the half. The PAT was wide right but St. Louis led 13-0 going into intermission.

“We struggled a little bit in the first quarter offensively,” said Johns. “When it counted we came through. It was a good win. Any time you win on the road, it’s a good win.”

The only score of the second half came on a 25-yard field goal by Bice following a short punt that gave St. Louis possession at the CHS 21 midway through the third quarter.

Alex Livingston paced CHS with 17 yards rushing on seven carries. Bullock went 10-for-21 for 124 yards, with Gonsoulin catching five for 87 yards. Devin Boutte was the only other receiver with more than one catch, making two grabs for 19 yards.

“The Wild Panther started out well, then we had the holding call and the snap over the head,” said Brodie. “We’ve just got to keep working. We’ve got to keep trying to execute in practice. (The offense) will come around. They took away our running game and forced us into throwing the ball, and we had too many missed passes and drops.”

Stephen Sylvester ran for 50 yards on 12 carries and Dillon Berlin had 42 on six rushes for the Saints. Christian went 6-for-12 for 66 yards.

“I thought Catholic High did a good job tonight,” said Johns, whose team plays at Jennings to open District 4-3A play on Thursday.

CHS plays host to Erath to begin District 7-3A play.