by Brother Neal Golden, S.C. ’57 CJ
The Crusaders trailed 35-28 early in the fourth quarter of their game with Curtis after the Patriots finished their second long, grueling touchdown march of the second half. That culminated a 28-7 run by Curtis after Martin led 21-7 in the second quarter. It was gut check time if the Saders wanted to finish the regular season undefeated and win their first district championship since 2008.
Coach Bonis knew that his offense not only had to score but had to control the ball the way Curtis did. “We had to run the football to give our defense a rest. With the box count number they gave us, we felt we could have success with our run-pass option game.” Senior Jaylon Spears carried the ball 10 times in the next 12 plays and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the score. “I had to finish,” said Jaylon after the game. “My O-line, they said they got me, and I’m like, ‘This is for y’all.’”
Benefitting from time to regroup, the defense forced a three-and-out to regain possession. The key play was senior LB Noah Chachere’s sack of QB Buddy Taylor.
QB Garrett Mmahat ’22 led the offense on another time-consuming march inside the Curtis 10 before a 15-yard penalty forced sophomore kicker Leyton Liuzza to boot a 30-yard field goal for a 38-35 lead.
A holding penalty also set Curtis back on their next possession, making it second-and-18. But Taylor, who gained 136 yards on 15 runs for the evening, scampered 16 yards on a third-down keeper to keep hope alive for the Patriots. On fourth-and-two, Taylor pushed forward behind his big offensive line but fell almost a yard short of the line to gain.
The Crusaders needed to pick up a first down to run out the clock. Spears came through again, gaining 8 yards on his fourth straight carry to move the sticks.
The victory sealed the #1 seed and a first-round bye in the Select School Division I playoffs. The Crusaders now face Jesuit for the second time this season after the #9 Blue Jays easily defeated #8 St. Paul’s, which had not practiced in two weeks because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Brother Martin pulled out an exciting 45-42 victory over the Blue Jays October 10. The Crusaders overcame a deficit of 20-0 in the second quarter but had to come from behind again in the last three minutes after the Jays went up 42-38. Spears scored from the one with a mere 20 seconds remaining to pull out the 45-42 victory.
Coach Bonis calls Jesuit senior WR Luke Besh “one of the best receivers I’ve seen. Every opponent knows he’s their main target, and it doesn’t matter. Their offensive line started only one senior, but they’ve improved tremendously there.” QB Luke LaForge “has a very good arm and does enough with his feet on quarterback draws to give you fits. He made a lot of big plays on us in the first game. We won the explosive plays battle but not by much. Their explosions were in the passing game; ours were in the run game.”
The Crusaders need strong fan support Friday night at 7 PM at Tad Gormley Stadium to fend off the Blue Jays for a second time this season.