September 22, 2022
Chat with Coach Bonis #3: St. Thomas More Review, Ouachita Preview
by Brother Neal Golden, S.C. (CJ ’57)
"The Crusaders suffered their first on-the-field regular-season defeat since 2019 when St. Thomas More won 30-16 Friday night in Lafayette.
STM drove for a field goal on their first possession. Most of the yards came on a 61-yard pass from QB Sam Altman to Christian McNees on a 3rd and 18 play. But the Crusader defense forced a 31-yard field goal by Brendan Bourque.
When the Cougars got the ball back, they marched to another field goal, this one a 39-yarder to make it 6-0.
The Crusaders got on the board three plays into the second quarter after an exchange of punts gave them possession on the STM 36. Four snaps later, Leyton Liuzza booted a 49-yard field goal to cut the Cougar lead in half with 11:11 left in the first half.
STM scored the first touchdown of the game after a low snap from center led to a shanked punt that gave the Cougars possession on the Brother Martin 46. A few plays later, Altman connected with McNees at the 10, and he fought through two defenders into the end zone to make it 13-3 STM.
On the first play after the kickoff, Crusader junior HB Jordan West took a handoff, shot through the right side of the line, stiff-armed the safety, burst into the clear, and fended off a last tackler inside the 20 to complete an electrifying 80-yard run. The PAT was missed, but STM’s lead was cut to 13-9.
The Cougars answered with a scoring drive of their own that reached the BM 12 before bogging down. So Bourque kicked a field goal to make it 16-9 with 8:05 left in the third quarter.
Before the period ended, STM scored two touchdowns, one on a 44-yard run and the other on a 42-yard pass from Altman to McNees.
Senior DB Austin Tatum accounted for the Crusaders’ second touchdown when he returned an interception 30 yards with 9:28 left in the game.
The Cougars responded with a 61-yard pass from Altmann to McNees on 3rd and 18 to set up Bourque’s 31-yard field goal that completed the scoring at 30-16.
The STM defense held Brother Martin to 220 yards of total offense with 80 coming on West’s touchdown run.
Coach Mark Bonis says, “Offensively, we’re not where we need to be right now. We struggled to get things going offensively. We’re leaving our defense on the field entirely too long. Our defense played well for us as long as they could. They were on the field for 83 snaps compared to our 63 snaps on offense.
“Our offensive line played fairly well, but we didn’t take advantage of the fact that they often had an extra guy or two in the box. When that happens, you have to take what they’re giving you. We did not execute the way we needed from that standpoint.”
This week, the Crusaders may be going from the frying pan into the fire as they travel even further this week to Ouachita High School near Monroe in Central Louisiana. The Lions have a 1-2 record with losses to Conway, AK, a nationally ranked team, and Archbishop Rummel. Their victory came against perennial power Neville.”
Coach Bonis: “They’re very big, very talented, very fast. Two of their defensive linemen didn’t play against Neville. One weighs 375lbs. Since he started playing, he’s made them a completely different defense.
“On offense, they use multiple formations and multiple tight ends set. They pound you with their big offensive line. They have a really talented tailback, and the quarterback is very good with his feet. They’re really good when running downhill at you.
“Defensively, since #99 started playing, they have a big four-man front, and they’re full of speed on the back end. We definitely will have our hands full. This is a really big game for us. We’re trying to be 3-1 going into district play. It’s a big game to see how tough our guys are. We’ll see how they respond to losing a regular season game for the first time in three years.”
Starting QB Clayton Lonardo suffered a grade 2 strained MCL injury in his knee near the end of the first half of the St. Thomas More game. “He came back into the game, but then we got concerned it could be an ACL issue. So at that point, we pulled him out. Everything looks good, and the plan is for him to play this week depending on his pain tolerance."
Be sure to join us in support of the Brother Martin football team at Ouachita on Friday, September 23rd at 7 PM!
