Jays Must Play Mistake-free Football to Remain on the Road to the Dome

Against St. Thomas More, linebacker Robert Lobrano takes down this Cougar behind the line of scrimmage and at the same time forces a fumble recovered by the Jays. Lobrano was recognized as Nola.com’s “Player of the Week” for his 15 tackles (10 solo) against the Cougars.

View the Jesuit – St. Thomas More Quarterfinals Playoff Photo Gallery

View the Jesuit – St. Augustine Playoff Game Gallery

A much-anticipated rematch between Jesuit and Archbishop Rummel takes place Saturday, November 29 at Tad Gormley Stadium when the two cross-parish rivals meet in the Division 1 semifinals. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

For those alumni and parents who can’t make it to the game, there are a couple of options. Jesuit will broadcast the action on local radio station WMTI “The Ticket” — 106.1 FM. Blue Jay fans also will be able to access a live video stream on SportsNola.com, which is doing its own broadcast separate from Jesuit’s. Look for the “Listen Live” link.

As he has done several times this season, the radio broadcast on “The Ticket” will feature Jesuit alumnus Danny Riehm ’00, who will call the play-by-play action. Nick Nolfe, a science teacher who also coaches football and baseball at Jesuit, will be at Riehm’s side to provide insightful color analysis from kickoff to final whistle.

Charles Jackson hurdles a Cougar defender on one of his 17 attempts carrying the ball. He ran for 119 yards against the Cougars.

The Jesuit Switchboard will NOT be selling tickets on the day of the game. Tickets, however, will be available at the stadium gates. Admission is $10 for adults and children. School IDs will not be accepted. As the home team, Jesuit will be on the Marconi Drive-side of the stadium.

The Jays (10-2) are seeded #6 and coming off a convincing 20-13 win over a strong #3-seeded St. Thomas More team. That the Jays defeated the Cougars on their home turf in Lafayette made the victory extra special.

Last week, the #2-seeded Raiders (11-0) beat #7-seeded Teurlings Catholic, 28-20, to set up the semifinals game, which marks the second time this season the rivals will play each other. The winner plays the John Curtis Patriots for the state championship in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 5. The Patriots beat Brother Martin, 40-20, in the other District 1 semifinals game on Friday night, November 28, at Tad Gormley.

“We won’t succeed by making a lot of mistakes,” said head football Coach Mark Songy. “More importantly, we won’t succeed if we don’t take care of every opportunity we get. And they will give us some opportunities, not on purpose, but they will give us some. Bottom line, when those opportunities present themselves, we have to be keenly aware of them because they’re not going to come around very often.”

In the regular season encounter during Week 8, the Jays dropped a close one, 10-7, in a defensive tug-of-war. Check out the Jesuit-Rummel Game Gallery. The low-scoring game was a surprise to many, even the two head coaches.

“After the first game, (Rummel coach) Jay (Roth) and I met on the field and the first words out of Jay’s mouth were, ‘Who woulda thunk it?’ Meaning it was a low-scoring affair. I know that he was very proud of his defense, holding us down to seven points, and he should have been because at the time we had a history of scoring a lot of points (average of 45 per game).”

Coach Songy said whether the game is low or high-scoring, the outcome will be very close.

“If it’s a high-scoring game, it plays into our favor,” he said, explaining that Rummel normally doesn’t put up a lot of points. “They’re normally not very explosive. Normally, they just take the will out of you.”

Read More…

Nola.com: Rummel versus Jesuit II: “This is the one that counts…”

N.O. Advocate: Rod Walker: Rummel-Jesuit Part 2 tops marquee games

SportsNola.com: Rummel, Jesuit battle again with Dome appearance on the line