Jays and Raiders to Clash Saturday in #52

Posted October 15, 2015 / Last updated October 16, 2015

Jesuit and Rummel Kick Off at 6 PM at Tad Gormley Stadium

The Blue Jays practice at John Ryan Stadium.

View the Photo Gallery of the Jesuit – John Curtis Game

Fifty-one games. That’s how many times Jesuit and crossparish rival Archbishop Rummel have played each other on the gridiron. The teams met twice last year with the Jays losing the district game, 10-7, only to bounce back five weeks later to decisively defeat the Raiders, 28-14, in the semifinals to earn a trip to the state championship game in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. And we all know what happened there.

The Raiders hold a five game edge in the series, 23-28, and the Jays, winless three games into district play this season, will be looking to topple their Metairie adversary when they clash in game #52 on Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children (ages 6-11) and may be purchased at the Jesuit switchboard Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tickets will not be sold at the switchboard on Saturday. Tickets bought at the gate are $8 for adults and children. Faculty and student IDs will be accepted for admission.

The game will be broadcast on WGSO 990 AM Radio with sports media fixture Kenny Trahan and Jesuit teacher-coach Nick Nolfe serving as commentators. The game will also be streamed live on SportsNola.com. On Friday, Oct. 16, Randazzo’s Family Restaurant in Metairie hosts Jesuit Football Night on WGSO 990 AM.

3:33 Interview with Coach Mark Songy… At practice on Wednesday afternoon at John Ryan Stadium, Coach Songy was interviewed about the upcoming Rummel game.

Coaches closely scrutinize the Jays at practice. From left: defensive coordinator Troy Baglio, Benny Baptiste ’81 (defensive ends), Darryl Roule (assistant head coach and linebackers), head coach Mark Songy, Tim Falter ’02 (running backs), and offensive coordinator Graham Jarrott.

How is practice going this week?
“It’s exam week and notoriously we’re not normally real sharp during exams. But we’ve been sharp the last two days, a spiritual high. The kids are resilient. After a loss, I tend to mope around for a couple of days, but these guys come out resilient every Monday. They’ve done that and there’s no difference. We know we’re very close to doing things well enough to win ball games. We’re taking those steps in the right direction.”

Has Jesuit been unlucky this season?
“I think you make your own luck, I really do. Luck comes when you put yourself in a position because you’re hustling and because you’re doing things that you’re coached to do. You’re ending up in the right spot when the ball pops out or the ball is thrown to you or it’s given to you and you’re hustling on your blocks and you make the block that makes the play go. I think that’s like they say preparation meets with opportunity. That’s luck in football. The ball bounces, if you’re around it, you’re going to get on it.”

How do you keep the team’s confidence level up?
“I don’t have to. Certainly after a ball game when things don’t go our way our confidence gets a little bit low. But we come right back out and go to work. I think their confidence is fine. If we would have won all of our ball games to this point, our confidence would be sky high. But I think our confidence is fine. We go into every football game expecting to win and that’s a credit to our kids.”

What were you thinking during Curtis’s nine-minute drive in the third quarter?
“We got to get the ball back. We got to be productive. We got in a nice rhythm in the first half and really took it to them. Then they got into a heckuva rhythm in the second half and we couldn’t get off the field. We had a couple of chances to and didn’t make it happen. Our offense sits on the bench, gets kind of cold. We get out of rhythm and that’s a little bit of a problem for us.”

Senior wide receivers Kalija Lipscomb and Malachi Hull: Through six weeks of football, Lipscomb has 30 receptions for 407 yards and four touchdowns; Hull has 12 receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

How are we dealing with mistakes?
“We try to correct them every time watching the film, then we come out and correct them here on the field before we proceed to the next opponent. We’re going to make a fresh set of mistakes each week. Hopefully, they’re not really to a point where we keep repeating the same mistakes. But I think we make new mistakes each week. We have to anticipate how those mistakes might happen and prepare our kids the best way we can.”

On the fans supporting the team…
“I’m proud of the kids and proud of the effort that we get every day. The support is always going to be here because this is Jesuit. Our fans — students, alumni, and parents — all support us, and our kids thrive on that. I would expect it to be as supportive as it was a year ago.”

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