Jays and Patriots to Meet Again on the Gridiron

Posted October 8, 2015 / Last updated October 9, 2015

Jesuit and John Curtis Kick Off Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 PM at Joe Yenni Stadium

Jesuit’s Connor Prouet was given the ball 32 times against Holy Cross. He rushed for 162 yards and scored the Jays’ three touchdowns.

View the Photo Gallery of the Jesuit – Holy Cross Rivalry Game

When Jesuit and John Curtis kick off Friday night at 7 p.m. at Joe Yenni Stadium, don’t expect the game to be anything like the Division 1 championship the two teams played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome last December that resulted in the Blue Jays winning its first state title in 54 years.

The Friday night game marks the first time these two Division 1 teams are playing a District 9-5A district contest and comes about as a result of Curtis playing up one class, from 4A to 5A, the so-called Catholic District.

Pre-sale tickets are $6 each for adults and students and $3 each for children (ages 6-11) and may be purchased Friday at the Jesuit switchboard from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. All tickets purchased at the gate are $8 each. Student and faculty IDs will be accepted at the gate for this district contest.

Mark Beebe’s herculean effort succeeds in keeping this Tiger runner out of the end zone.

With 2014 now history, changes have occurred in the current season affecting both Jesuit and John Curtis. The Blue Jays bring a 2-3 overall record into the game while the Patriots are 3-1 and are coming off a bye week, having lost to Brother Martin, 40-37, two weeks ago. In the first three games, Curtis soundly defeated their opponents by scores of 41-20, 38-10, and 41-14.

So Curtis is 0-1 in district play and the Jays are 0-2. After their opening season loss to Warren Easton, 26-21, the Jays defeated St. Paul’s, 17-14, in Week 2, and won in Pensacola against Escambia, 28-17, in Week 3. District play opened for Jesuit and St. Augustine in Week 4 with the Purple Knights spoiling the Blue Jays’ Homecoming, 38-20. The Rivalry game against Holy Cross took place in Week 5, a thriller that went into double overtime with the Tigers snatching a victory, 28-21, after stopping the Jays on the one-yard line on the final down.

“We had a good week at practice,” said Coach Mark Songy, adding that the Blue Jays are a resilient bunch, having shaken off that heartbreaking loss to the Tigers. “Fans will see two completely different teams from what they saw in the Superdome. Our defense will have to be in place whenever the Patriots run the option.”

Crew Jacobs misses his first field goal this year. He has kicked three out of four from 34, 26, and 27 yards out.

Jesuit lost its starting center, senior John Sewell, to an injury against Holy Cross. Junior Nick Gauthé will be snapping the ball to senior quarterback Peter Hontas. Junior running back Connor Prouet gets better each week in leading the Blue Jays’ ground attack. Against Holy Cross, Prouet had 32 carries for 162 yards and scored all three of Jesuit’s touchdowns. His longest was a 25-yard run in the final two minutes of regulation that gave the Jays a crucial first down in Tiger territory. Prouet has not fumbled and appears to be on track to surpass 1,000 yards this season. Through five games, he has 123 carries for 693 yards, an average of 5.6 yards per carry. He’s tallied eight of Jesuit’s nine rushing touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb leads all Jesuit receivers with 25 catches for 292 yards, an average of 11.7 yards per catch. He’s scored twice and his longest reception was 35 yards. Against Holy Cross, Lipscomb caught only three passes for 33 yards, but quarterback Hontas threw only 13 times, completing eight passes.

Against Holy Cross, senior Jesuit safety Mark Beebe had six solo and six assisted tackles. Senior defensive lineman Zach Robert had four solo and six assisted tackles, while junior linebacker Cameron Crozier had five solo and four assisted tackles. Through five games Crozier and Beebe lead the defense in tackles; Crozier has 65, including 43 solos and Beebe has 37, including 15 solos.

Against Holy Cross, Kalija Lipscomb had three receptions for 33 yards.

Senior kicker Crew Jacobs has been perfect on all 14 PATs this season and he’s three-for-four on field goals. Unfortunately against Holy Cross, Jacobs attempted a 40-yard field goal which was deflected by a Tiger who wasn’t blocked. With the teams tied at 14 and nine seconds remaining in regulation, the diminutive kicker missed from 21 yards. Jacobs was devastated; the players were in shock; Jesuit fans were stunned; the play-by-play announcer couldn’t believe it.

Give the kid a break. After all, Jacobs hit from 34 yards against St. Paul’s (the Jays won by three points), and he kicked two (26 and 27 yards) in the St. Aug game. Don’t forget he kicked a 28-yard field goal in the Superdome, and what was the score against Curtis in that championship game? The three field goals this year give him a total of 18 since he started kicking as a freshman. He came into the season with 128 PATs. When you total it all up, Jacobs has scored an incredible 196 points and he appears to be on track to become number 5 or 6 on the list of Blue Jay football players who have scored the most career points.

That’s right, Jacobs could have his name near or sandwiched between two legendary Blue Jays: John Petitbon ’48 (218 points) and Eddie Toribio ’34 (229 points). Right up there with Ralphie Friebert ’12 (259 points), Todd Golemi ’95 (276 points), Pat Screen ’61 (301 points), and the leader in career points, Chris Markey ’03 (374 points).

And that’s not bad for a five-foot, seven-inch kicker named Crew.