KINDER — St. Louis Catholic watched as Kinder scored on a long drive to open the game Friday night at John C. Buck Stadium, but the defense helped rally the Saints to a 45-20 win to open District 3-3A play.

“We don’t ever lose confidence in those guys,” St. Louis head coach Brock Matherne said. “We don’t like to make excuses.

“I was upset with the way that we came out, especially after the (lightning) delay. I told them we want to play a physical brand of football, and it always starts with the tone of our defense. There is no excuse, but that group doesn’t have any quit. When adversity hits them, the guys deal with it well.”

After falling behind, the Saints (3-1, 1-0) scored 31 consecutive points and forced Kinder into five three-and-outs over its next six drives.

By the time the Kinder’s offense found the end zone again on a 90-yard pass and catch from Landen Rice to J.J. Eaglin with 1:04 left in the third quarter, the Saints were up 31-6.

Kinder (3-1, 0-1), which lost its first game, gained 60 yards on its first drive but 30 on its next eight drives as the Saints defense tightened up.

Senior two-way player Graham Montet had a monster night with a trio of touchdowns and dished out big hits on defense. His first touchdown was a 43-yard run in the third quarter. He ran around the left end and headed for the sideline then broke a pair of tackles at the 10-yard line before reaching the end zone.

A mere 15 seconds later, Montet scooped up a fumble and returned it 15 yards to put the Saints up 24-7 with 5:46 left in the third quarter. He added his third score with 10:29 left in the game on a 7-yard run.

Montet finished with eight carries for 67 yards. His two second-half scores were part of a 21-point third quarter that allowed the Saints to pull away.

St. Louis recovered two fumbles in the third quarter and another in the fourth.

Down 7-0, Saints kicker Landon Daughdril nailed a 52-yard field goal with plenty of room to spare. Two drives later, St. Louis took a 10-7 lead on a 32-yard pass from Luke Pierson to Andrew Svarney. The play before the Saints faced a fourth-and-5 but were able to draw the Yellow Jackets offsides.

The Saints offense was solid in the second half, scoring 28 points after it was held to 10 in the first half. Pierson completed 10 of 14 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and Svarney had five catches for 113 yards. St. Louis had 144 rushing yards and 174 passing.

“It was a slow start in the first half, but we stuck with the game plan,” Matherne said. “The coaches stuck together. The players stuck together.

“We talked about this game developing an identity of wanting to run the football and still being able to pass the ball. Our quarterback, Luke Pierson, we challenged him all week, and he stepped up. I am extremely proud of that guy and extremely proud of that offense for the second half they put forth.”

Kinder’s opening drive couldn’t have gone any better as it went 80 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead against a team that entered the game allowing 9.3 points a game.

Isaiah Thomas had a 16-yard carry on third-and-6, and the Saints were called for a face mask penalty to move the Yellow Jackets to the Saints 33. Quarterback Landen Rice hit Connor Lafargue for a 16-yard completion, then called his own number, scoring from 4 yards out for a 7-0 lead with 7:30 left in the first quarter.

Logan Lebeouf led Kinder with 86 rushing yards on 14 carries.