In the Season Opener on a Sultry Thursday Night, Jesuit and Warren Easton Stage a Royal Battle, and a Lengthy One, but the Jays Prevail

The Jays sit quietly on the walkway under the grandstand at Tad Gormley Stadium waiting out a 45-minute lightning delay with just under three minutes to play in their game against Warren Easton on Thursday, September 1.

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There were two minutes fifty-four seconds showing on the scoreboard at Tad Gormley Stadium. It had been a dog day’s night for the 2016 season opener for a pair of old Mid-City rivals, Jesuit and Warren Easton. The Jays were clinging to a precarious 13-6 lead and they weren’t quite out of the park yet. The players, on both sides of the field, were pooped and drenched in sweat, while their coaches paced up and down the sidelines, flirting with angina. Ever since the 7 p.m. kickoff, the players had consumed gluttonous amounts of liquids to stay hydrated in an effort to ward off painful leg cramps. The essential fluids benefited most players, but still, those tortuous cramps afflicted several of the Jays and Eagles throughout the game. The stifling heat of the day lingered and the humidity that enveloped the stadium would have amazed even the late, great Morgus the Magnificent.

Jesuit’s quarterback, Alex Watermeier, hands off to running back Connor Prouet, who follows his blocker, Fletcher Lavie, for a short gain. Prouet was given the ball 26 times and had 84 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Wind a factor? Only in the sense there was none. The air was heavy all night long. With about five minutes left in the game, a soothing gentle breeze had noticeably swept through the stadium for the first time. The Jays were facing third and 10 on their own 40-yard line when a sudden flash of lightning caused the hair to jump on the back of many a neck. The lightning was on the Roosevelt Mall visitor’s side of the stadium (Jesuit’s side this year). A millisecond later, the crash of thunder sounded like the boom of a canon blast. Everyone jumped, even the wildlife under the stadium. Fans jumped right out of their seats and scurried for the closest exits in a scene vaguely resembling the panic attacks that recently occurred at New York and Los Angeles airports.

With play immediately suspended, everyone herded towards the safety and shelter under the grandstand. It was right about 9:30 p.m. and just under three minutes remained on the clock when the lightning strikes (there were several) interrupted the game. Lightning delays are fairly common at baseball games, but they are a rarity during the prep football season. In fact, if there is someone who can recall a previous Jesuit football game that was halted by lightning, please remain seated.

The LHSAA has rules about this kind of severe weather. Fortunately, the delay lasted only 45 minutes and at 10:17 p.m., the teams were back on the field to complete the game. Unfortunately, not many fans of either team returned to the stands. Lightning can do that to people.

Linebacker Cameron Crozier dives and gets just enough of the Eagles’ quarterback to trip him up after a short gain. That’s linebacker Jacob Baxter, who except for his arms and a knee, is obscured but directly behind the quarterback,

Connor Prouet, Jesuit’s senior running back with the legs of an iron horse, scored the only touchdown early in the game, a two-yard run up the middle. Prouet carried 26 times and grinded out 84 yards. All night long he pounded the Eagles’ stingy defensive line. When play resumed and it was third and ten, Prouet picked up nine yards, carrying two Eagle defenders on his back for the last five yards of the run. Senior kicker/punter Jake Chanove, who earlier kicked two field goals and whose three previous punts averaged 37 yards, hit a 10-yard dud.

An incomplete pass by the Eagles on first down stopped the clock at 2:28. On second down junior defensive end Matthew Frischhertz got to the Eagles’ quarterback, who coughed up the ball that was pounced on by senior linebacker Nathan Farley. The Jays were back in business on the Eagles’ 40-yard line. There was 2:20 left on the clock and the Jays looked to Prouet to nail it down. On three carries, he mustered five yards. On fourth and five, Prouet dragged the entire Eagles’ defensive line with him for just over five yards. First and 10 for the Jays with :47 on the clock. Quarterback Alex Watermeier and the rest of the offense assumed the victory formation. Marathon game over at 10:27 p.m., almost three and a half hours after the kickoff.

“It was a hard fought battle and we expected that, and I hope Warren Easton expected that,” said Coach Mark Songy. “It’s always great to come out on the winning side of something like this. And like I was telling the guys before, we’re going to be a much better football team because we played a game like this against a quality opponent like Easton.”

As Denny Maginnis takes the snap, Jake Chanove kicks a 29-yard field goal to extend Jesuit’s lead to 13-0 in the fourth quarter.

Prouet was a work horse and “he’s going to be like that every week until we can get our throwing game going well. We’ve got a couple of young running backs that can come in and spell Connor a little bit. That’s important down the line because Connor can’t take those 40 or 50 carries a game.”

Chanove’s two field goals, a 29-yarder in the third quarter and a 26-yarder in the fourth quarter, were huge. “Jake came through big time,” said Coach Songy. Chanove also attempted a third field goal, a 33-yarder right before the lightning delay, but hooked it left.

Coach Songy agreed that winning the season opener will give the Jays much confidence going into Week 2’s game against St. Paul’s of Covington. “Absolutely, it’s so much better than a loss,” he said. “We’ve got an extra day to prepare for St. Paul’s and we’re going to need it to heal up a little bit. We just have to let this game settle, see what kind of mistakes we made, and continue to correct them. I like our football team a lot. I think we’re a pretty gutsy bunch.”

St. Paul’s quarterback is a scrambler similar to what Jesuit’s defense experienced against Easton’s quarterback. The Jays will not be taking the Wolves lightly next Friday night in Covington.

“We play a heck of a schedule and I wouldn’t want to have it different,” said Coach Songy. “As hard as our guys work all year long, I think it would be an injustice to play some weak opponents when we can play strong ones and get something out of that and make every game a battle.”

When a reporter mentioned that he hopes the long rivalry between Jesuit and Easton continues, Coach Songy replied, “I think we have something great going.”

Read More…

The New Orleans Advocate: Jesuit’s defense comes up with key plays in 13-6 win over Warren Easton

Nola.com: Jesuit 13, Warren Easton 6: Tough defense, Eagles turnovers lead to Jays win