Crusaders Seek Explosive Plays, Game-Changers Against Hahnville Tonight

DSC01155_1654The Crusaders’ tough pre-district schedule continued last Saturday night with a 29-0 setback at the hands of the Warren Easton Eagles, the No. 3 ranked large school in the New Orleans area.

“Our team battled. We played hard,” said Coach Mark Bonis. “That’s a big thing. We can build on that.”

When asked which disappointed him more, the 29 or the 0, Bonis quickly replied, “The 0.”

“I thought our defense did some really good things to keep an explosive offense like Easton’s in check. We did a good job of shutting down the run.”

But the offense has not clicked.  “The top two categories for helping teams win are, No. 1, explosive plays, and No. 2, turnover ratio. If you have a plus-2 advantage in explosive plays, then, other things being equal, you have an 85% chance of winning. We define explosive plays as runs of 12 or more yards and passes of 16 or more yards. We’re struggling to make explosive plays. A lot of that has to do with youth.”

But Bonis still thinks his team has potential.DSC01158_1656

“We’re not young everywhere, but we’re young in key spots. To progress to the place where we need to be, we need to improve on those spots where we’re young.”

He’s generally pleased with his two lines.

“I think our offensive line is doing some good things. And the defensive front got better from week one to week two. The linebackers did some good things. Special teams did some good things. But we’re not where we need to be by any stretch.”

Brother Martin heads to Hahnville for a 7 p.m. game Friday night. The Tigers are 1-1, the loss coming last week to John Ehret, 46-41.

“It doesn’t get any easier. Hahnville is very talented. They have one of the best players in the state, No. 7 Pooka Williams. He’s like Reggie Bush at the high school level. Very dynamic. Electric. The quarterback is very talented. They have a receiver who’s talented. They don’t throw the ball a whole bunch. Defensively, they run a 3-4 scheme. They compare to Petal defensively – very fast, athletic.”

Special teams will again face a challenge.

“Every team we’ve played, we’ve been leery of their return guys. It’ll be the same thing this week – kick away from their better players.”

Hahnville puts their quarterback and top running back to receive kickoffs and punts.

“Our cover units have done well. We spend a lot of time on special teams. They pride themselves on being difference makers, but they haven’t done that yet.”

The Crusaders suffered no serious injuries in the Easton game. Erick Lassair, battling an ankle injury since preseason practice, feels about 95 percent and may see action on offense in addition to starting at cornerback.

Bonis’s final word: “I’m looking for a tremendous amount of improvement from week two to week three.”