September 16, 2022

Chat with Coach Bonis #2: St. Paul’s Review, St. Thomas More Preview

by Brother Neal Golden, S.C. (CJ ’57)

"Brother Martin traveled to the Northshore last Friday night for a clash with Division I foe St. Paul’s of Covington.

The Crusaders dominated the first half but had only a 7-0 lead at the break to show for it. The defense caged the Wolves in their half of the field until they reached the Brother Martin 46 just before halftime. Meanwhile, the Crusaders scored on Torey Lambert’s 55-yard touchdown run. 

The Wolves had to be relieved that they weren’t further behind considering the Crusaders outgained them 183 to 85 yards in the first 24 minutes, including a 121-51 edge on the ground.

“We should have been way more than 7-0 ahead at halftime,” says Coach Mark Bonis. “We should have been up by three scores. We had a touchdown on an 83-yard run called back because of a stupid penalty. The person thought he was doing the right thing, but he just didn’t go about it in the right way.” 

The Crusader offense was awesome in the third quarter, scoring on drives of over 50 yards on their first three possessions to take a seemingly insurmountable 28-0 lead with 9:53 left in the fourth quarter. With Lambert on the sideline nursing an ankle injury, Jordan West gained an even 100 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns. In between those two six-pointers, Sidney Harris, Jr. went over from the one with a minute left in the third period.

The Wolves finally ended the Crusader defense’s seven-quarter scoreless streak in the fourth period. With more time to throw against the Crusader reserves, QB Daniel Roushar started finding open receivers. The result was a lengthy drive that culminated in Tristan Davenport’s touchdown from the one to make it 28-7 with only 3:36 left in the game.

The Wolves made Crimson and Gold clad fans squirm in their seats a bit on the first play after the kickoff when Gavin Bourgeois picked up a fumbled snap and raced 50 yards to the end zone. Fourteen points in eleven seconds had cut the Crusader lead in half.

The Crusaders settled down and ran off the remaining 3:25 on the clock to complete the victory.

Brother Martin finished with 360 total yards (65 passing and a whopping 295 rushing) to 192 for St. Paul’s. QB Clayton Lonardo completed only 7 of 17 passes but at least five of his throws were dropped. Coach Bonis: “Clayton made some college-level passes. He made some really great reads, but statistically, it doesn’t look like it. When you’re trying to make your quarterback feel comfortable as the season progresses, dropped passes can’t happen. We also had some penalties. We’ve got to clean those things up in order for us to be as good a football team as we need to be.”

Coach Mark Bonis explained, “We put our younger guys in to develop depth” when the score reached 28-0. “It was time for us to get some work for guys we will have to depend on. But the wheels fell off. It was a great learning experience for them. A lot of the mistakes that happened in the game happened in our practices with our ones and our twos. It was a wake-up call for those kids.”

The Crusaders now prepare for another road game, this time to Lafayette to play Division II powerhouse, St. Thomas More, for the first time ever Friday night. The Cougars are 2-0 after defeating Alexandria 42-35 last week.

Coach Jim Hightower is the second-winningest coach in the state behind J. T. Curtis and ranks #17 in the nation with 436 career victories. 

“St. Thomas More is extremely talented,” says Bonis. “They look close to midseason form on film. They’re really good in all three phases. They run the popular shotgun, spread, no-huddle offense. They once were known for throwing the football, but they run the ball now more than we’ve seen before.

“Their quarterback gets the ball out fast, which negates one of the strongest points of our team, which is pressuring the quarterback.

“They’re not overly big. The size matchup for us and them is very close. They have a 6’4” safety Nicholas Beckwith who is very athletic and physical.

“They’re good on special teams. They have a left-footed kicker and a right-footed kicker.

“We’ve been preparing our kids for a hostile environment. The fans are in your face as you walk into the stadium. The environment is as close to a college game environment that our kids can be a part of.

“We will have our hands full this week, but we’re excited about it. We’ve never played there.”

After changing the definition of “Select School,” the LHSAA has expanded Division I to 34 schools. The top 24 will make the playoffs, with the first eight getting byes in the first round.

Road games like the one this week and the one next week to Ouachita will give the Crusaders valuable experience if they must travel during the playoffs."