ST. FRANCISVILLE -- Catholic High receiver Cory Brodie was mad. The Panthers trailed 21-7 to West Feliciana at halftime and the team didn’t play well in the first half.

At halftime, in the locker room, he let the team have it.

“We were down at half and couldn’t find a way to stop their offense,” said Brodie. “I told them that we don’t have a tomorrow. We can’t make excuses and say we have next week. It was basically survive or be done.”

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The speech did its job as Catholic High came out and outscored West Feliciana 28-12 in the second half.

And it almost wasn’t enough.

Adrian Webb’s 34 yard field goal attempt with 30 seconds left in the game slid just past the left upright as the Panthers held on for the 35-33 Class 3A bi-district road win over the Saints Friday.

Brody, who caught three passes for 45 yards on offense and recovered a fumble on defense, celebrated by charging off the field with hands raised high, and the rest of the Panther defense did the same as No. 20 seed Catholic High (7-4) stunned No. 13 West Feliciana (6-5). CHS draws a second round game at home Friday against No. 29 Bogalusa, which shocked No. 4 Carroll 48-42 Friday.

“It’s about time,” said CHS coach Craig Brodie. “We’ve had so many last-second losses this year that it was just our time. At halftime the kids were disgusted with themselves and decided it was our time.”

Catholic High’s digust came about as West Feliciana built a 21-7 halftime lead by running the ball. The Panthers couldn’t do a thing about it.

West Feliciana quarterback Deshawn Morrison, who finished with 125 yards rushing, and running back Roberto Johnson, who had 186, combined for three first-half touchdown as the Saints ran at will against CHS.

The Panthers, who were stopped on a fourth-down attempt inside the 10-yard line in the first quarter, managed only a 37-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Bullock to Devin Boutte and appeared to be on the way to being run out of the playoffs.

“At half, we went in and were down on ourselves, but Cory Brodie gave us an inspirational speech that pumped us up and we came out with a different, winning, attitude,” said Boutte, who had 10 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Catholic High’s defense, which had been nonexistent in the first half, stopped West Feliciana on its first drive of the third quarter. Bullock, who had misfired on so many passes in the first half, suddenly found his targets with his arm and started running with the ball when WFHS’ defense went into pass defense mode.

“They were dropping back deep to defend the pass and we started getting yards running the option,” said Bullock, who finished the game with 256 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-29 passing. He also ran 14 times for 58 yards, including a nine-yard run that tied the game at 21-21 with six minutes left in the period.

From that point on, the teams traded touchdowns. The difference was that after Johnson scored on an 80 yard run, he dove into the end zone and the resulting 15-yard penalty forced the Saints to go for 2 points, which they failed to convert.

CHS built a 35-27 lead and turned the game over to its defense.

The Panthers allowed a touchdown in the fourth, but stopped the 2-point conversion that would have tied the game and held the Saints in check just enough on the final drive to force the game-winning field goal attempt.

“We shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and a turnover,” said WFHS coach Robb Odom. “Without that we maybe could have come out on top.”

“People talk that Catholic High is all offense and no defense,” said Cory Brodie. “We wanted to make a statement tonight that we can play defense too when it matters.”