On the evening of April 30, 2025, the Brother Martin Rugby Team met Jesuit to compete for the 2025 Louisiana High School Rugby State Championship at the Gold Mine on Airline. It was the fourth consecutive year that these two teams have met in the State Championship.

Our Crusaders opened the scoring with a ruck close to the Jesuit goal line. Senior co-captain Maverick Trimble picked up from a 5-meter scrum, stopped Jesuit’s loose forward, and dove over for the try. J.D. Ward converted the kick, and the score stood at 7-0. Both sides had scoring opportunities, but due to fierce hitting, the ball was lost in contact to snuff out momentum. Jesuit was able to even the score as it stole possession from Brother Martin around midfield. The conversion was good, and the score stood at 7-7.

Senior scrumhalf and man of the match, Cameron Coughlin, broke weak side, drew the defender, and fed senior outside center, Branson Perez, who went over for the try. The conversion was not good, but the Crusaders took the lead 12-7. Again, although both sides had good breaks, they were stopped by hard hits and turnovers. Right before half, Jesuit was awarded a penalty and elected to go for posts. The penalty kick was good, and Jesuit narrowed the score to 12-0.

The second half was a back and forth affair with both sides playing tenacious defense. At the 60 minute mark, senior prop Nathan Blount powered over for a try, increasing Brother Martin's lead 17-10. Minutes later, loose forward Nathan Malek tied up several tacklers and offloaded to senior outside center, Blake Cordova, who scored the try. The final whistle blew shortly thereafter, and Brother Martin took the 22-10 win.

We are incredibly proud of the Brother Martin Rugby players and coaches. We would like to offer our special thanks to head coach, Gary Giepert, Brother Martin Class of 1980, and Mr. Ed Merritt, the team’s moderator. Congratulations on an amazing season and a well-deserved State Championship!