Iowa’s Kyron Labove holds on as Kyle Arsement forces St. Louis quarterback James Reina to fumble the ball Thursday night Matt Walker Stadium in Sulphur. (Kirk Meche / Special to the American Press)

SULPHUR — Led by a stout defense, Iowa played one of its most complete halves of the high school football season to beat St. Louis Catholic 47-21 Thursday at Matt Walker Memorial Stadium.

Iowa (9-1, 4-1 District 4-3A) was coming off a one-point loss to Lake Charles College Prep but asserted itself quickly. Defensive lineman Kyron Labove burst through the line on the Saints’ first offensive play and sacked James Reina for a 16-yard loss. St. Louis lost another 7 yards on the following play with several linemen taking down Reina.

“I am proud of our guys for rebounding and playing well tonight on a short week and after an emotional game we played last week,” Iowa head coach Tommy Johns said.

Iowa held St. Louis to minus-13 yards rushing and 60 total yards in the first half, and Connor Roy recovered a fumble at the Saints’ 19-yard line late in the second quarter.

Iowa held St. Louis to 138 yards of total offense.

“I thought those guys played exceptionally well,” Johns said. “We were worried all week.

“(St. Louis does) a lot of good things offensively. I thought our guys stepped up tonight, upfront especially. I thought they had a great game.”

Iowa entered the game ranked fifth in the most recent Class 3A power ratings. The Louisiana High School Athletic Association will release playoff brackets on Sunday.

“I don’t know (seeding),” Johns said. “We have to let it all play out. Wherever they tell us we have to play is what we are going to do. It is out of our control now. We handled our part on that, and we will see what happens.

“Hopefully we can get things rolling a little longer.”

Iowa’s offense was efficient, scoring on all five possessions in the first half with Curtis Deville scoring three times on a 49 and 3-yard reception and a 3-yard run. Deville finished with 126 yards of total offense.

Iowa had five players rush for 50 yards or more, led by Cole Corbello’s 88 yards on 11 carries. Koltin Lebleu completed 6 of 11 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

St. Louis (4-6, 1-4) controlled the time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for just over 13 minutes. But the Saints scored once on a 66-yard pass from Reina to Marcus Duhon. That cut Iowa’s lead to 14 points, but the Saints got no closer.

Duhon caught two passes for 66 yards and picked off a pass on defense.

St. Louis’ Logan Trahan scooped up a fumble and returned it 22 yards in the third quarter.