Week 10: Jesuit’s Sputtering Offense and a Tired Defense Overrun by Brother Martin

Connor Prouet (20) fumbles in the game against Brother Martin, the first time he’s coughed up the football all season.

Jesuit’s Next Opponent: Archbishop Rummel (6-3 overall; 3-3 in district 9-5a) in the opening round of state playoffs.
When: Saturday, November 12
Where: Joe Yenni Stadium (Jesuit players and fans will be on the visitor’s side.)
Kickoff: 6 PM
Admission Info: Pre-game tickets are $7 each for adults, students, and children (ages 6-11). All tickets purchased at the gate are one price: $9. Pre-game tickets can be purchased at Jesuit’s switchboard Tuesday, Nov. 8 through Friday, Nov. 11, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., and on Friday during lunch in the Student Commons. Tickets will not be sold from the switchboard on Saturday. Student IDs and season passes will not be accepted at the gate.
Limited Parking at Joe Yenni Stadium: $5 per car
On the Air: WGSO 990-AM and SportsNola.com will simulcast the game beginning at 5:45 p.m, courtesy of First NBC Bank. The broadcast team will be Ken Trahan, Rick Gaille, and Easten Roth. To watch games on SportsNOLA.com, either click the “Live” tab at the top of the page on gameday or open the “Live Games” page in the video section of the website.

Into the Lens: View the Jesuit – Brother Martin Photo Gallery

In Jesuit’s first nine games of the 2016 season, Connor Prouet, Jesuit’s tough senior running back with the hamstrings of a bull moose, carried the ball a total of 178 times. He never fumbled. Not even once while piling up 788 yards rushing and scoring 11 touchdowns. Not even once while catching nine passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Connor Prouet finds daylight around right end and sprints 16 yards for Jesuit’s only touchdown of the game.

Prouet almost made it through 10 games of the regular season without coughing up the ball. Almost.

The 5’11” 215-pound ironback finally did fumble — in the second quarter of Jesuit’s lackluster game against Brother Martin on Friday night, October 28 — proving he is human after all. The Crusaders recovered the loose ball around midfield, and then promptly gave it back to the Jays when they fumbled on first down.

Collin Kulivan catches a short pass and is upended by a Crusader.

It was that kind of a night for the Blue Jays, that kind of a football game at a baseball venue, Zephyr Field. After a good week of practice and prepping for the Crusaders, the Jays certainly looked ready to play Brother Martin for a 49^th time. Coming into the game, Jesuit sported a 5-4 overall record (2-3 in district 9-5a) and also led the series by two wins, 25-23. But the Crusaders 28-10 win at Zephyr Field cut Jesuit’s lead to a single game, 25-24.

Denny McGinnis holds for Jake Chanove, who kicks a 40-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half to put Jesuit on the scoreboard and cut Brother Martin’s lead to 7-3.

The 49^th game was closer than the score might otherwise indicate. The Jays did several things well, including:

* Recovering an onside kick to start the game.
* Stopping the Crusaders on third down and forcing them to punt.
* Intercepting a pass to stop a drive.
* Jake Chanove connecting on a 40-yard field goal with four seconds left in the first half to finally get on the scoreboard and cut the Crusaders’ lead to 7-3.
* Connor Prouet running 16 yards virtually untouched for Jesuit’s only touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Jays also did a few things, well, awful, including:

Jesuit linebackers Jacob Baxter (44), Hunter Faust (51), and Cameron Crozier (54) have a chat late in the game with assistant coach Danny DeVun ’08.

* Lots of missed tackles and sloppy tackles.
* Throwing two interceptions that killed promising drives.
* Not getting a first down until late in the second quarter, and then registering only seven more first downs for the entire game.
* Incurring seven penalties for 65 yards.

“We just didn’t play well in the first half on offense and dug ourselves a little bit of a hole,” said Coach Mark Songy. “We got some points on the board, but then we come out in the second half trying to improve and really get back into the game offensively, and we just didn’t. We left our defense on the field too long.”

Cameron Maheu (66) and his offensive line teammates take a break late in the game.

Jesuit’s Denny McGinnis started at quarterback but it didn’t take long for Coach Songy to send in reserve quarterback Alex Watermeier. The two quarterbacks alternated Jesuit’s offensive possessions and sometimes even downs.

Coach Songy was asked how long did he think about that change before making it?
“Not too long,” came the reply. “Alex is a good football player and just needs to continue to develop. So is Denny. Denny gives us some things Alex doesn’t, and vice versa. But you know, we’re still kind of growing in this game.”

The loss gives Jesuit an even 5-5 overall record for the regular season and a 2-4 record in district games. In the LHSAA’s world of select schools, Jesuit is seeded ninth of the 13 teams in Division 1, and the Raiders are seeded eighth. This will be the third consecutive year Jesuit and Rummel are meeting in the playoffs. In Week 7 of the regular season, the Jays lost to the Raiders, 17-10, at Joe Yenni Stadium.

After the game, a reporter told Coach Songy that Rummel lost to St. Augustine. Coach Songy seemed surprised. “I didn’t know that,” he said. The reporter asked if Coach Songy had thought about next week at all. “No, I have not, haven’t thought about it in the least. We’ll play whoever we got to play.”

Knowing Coach Songy, he will have the Jays prepare for Rummel exactly the same way as they’ve prepared to face their 10 opponents during the regular season. The Jays know what’s at stake this Saturday night at Joe Yenni Stadium.

Read More…

The New Orleans Advocate: John Curtis, De La Salle, Riverside score No. 1 seeds in LHSAA select football playoffs; Rummel, Jesuit to meet in first round

The New Orleans Advocate: Rummel-Jesuit highlights what should be one heck of an opening round

The New Orleans Advocate: Brother Martin breaks open tight game against Jesuit in second half

Nola.com: Brother Martin 28, Jesuit 10: Stout defense, John-Paul Pierce lead Crusaders