Wide receiver Easton Royal fends off two would-be East Ascension tacklers
during the second half play in their Sept. 5 game, won by the Crusaders, 29-22.

By: Ron Brocato

Brother Martin’s head football coach, Mark Bonis, may have a teaching degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, but he’s no southern gambler. Rather, the veteran mentor opts to let his opposing coaches play his “shell game” of guessing how his Crusaders will attack their defenses.

The strategy worked well last week in Brother Martin’s 29-22 come-from-behind victory over host East Ascension in the opening game of Bonis’ 17th season at the ‘Saders’ helm.

Plagued by penalties and a hard-hitting rushing attack by the host Spartans, Brother Martin fell quickly behind, 22-9, then rallied to score 20 unanswered points in the final 24 minutes to claim a road win.

On Friday, the Crusaders will visit St. Paul’s in Covington at 7 p.m. in the second of eight road games this season. It’s a brief rivalry in which Brother Martin holds a 3-1 series lead after having triumphed in the last three meetings.

In studying his next opponent, Bonis said he expected St. Paul’s crushing of Live Oak, 48-13.

“The thing that St. Paul’s does is give you multiple looks on defense. Their multiplicity will be our biggest challenge, so you have to trust your players to be on the same page.”

But, in gambling terms, The Wolves’ many defensive looks will be hard-pressed to translate the many looks into stops, Bonis said.

“Offense is a guessing game. Everything we run is tied to a run-pass option. And the reason why is that everyone studies film.

“The whole goal is to put the odds of winning in your favor, and, like gambling, you’re betting on the fact your opponent is anticipating some tendency they can attack.”

To counter, the Crusaders plan to run an offense that is based on what the offensive players see after the ball is snapped and not necessarily a pre-determined play.

“Our goal is to have plays where the quarterbacks, receivers, and skill players sit and read what the defense does after the snap, because (the coaches) have given the offense everything within the menu to be able to analyze how the defense plays.”

Last week’s victory was the product of key defensive plays in the second half that turned the momentum in the Crusaders’ favor and the confusion that versatile wide-out Easton Royal ‘27 caused to the Spartans’ defense, which had little clue how to defense his speed.

As a result, the 6-1, 190-pound standout wreaked havoc on the home team by scoring three touchdowns in a myriad of ways.
Royal, who finished the game with 130 total yards, scored on a reverse, an end-around, and via a 47-yard pass reception. In all, he rushed for 76 yards on five tries and added 57 more on two pass receptions.

“One of the positive things we did was to move (Royal) around. He was an inside receiver, an outside receiver, and he was a running back. And after you take out the penalties, he touched the ball only eight times,” Bonis said. “And he’s one of our players who needs to touch the ball 12 times early in the season.”

Following the slow start, the Crusaders found their offensive footing. “Offensively, the line played pretty well, considering we are very young. But I am excited about both our short- and long-term offenses,” the coach pointed out.”

St. Paul’s defense may be a bit more stout than East Ascension’s, Bonis said. “We’ll have to bring our A game in order to have a chance on Friday,” he said. “But I’m anxious to get to week two to show what we can do against an opponent like St. Paul’s.”