Quarterback Hudson Fields scans the St. Augustine defense to find an open receiver during the Crusaders’ recent District 9-5A game at Tad Gormley Stadium.
By: Ron Brocato
The football rivalry between Brother Martin and Warren Easton may be relatively new, but history links the city’s oldest public school with its Brothers of the Sacred Heart rival back to 1921. Brother Martin’s newest District 9-5A opponent has yet to win a district game since it joined the league in 2024. And the Easton Eagles will enter the Friday game at Tad Gormley Stadium with a mission to snap their nine-game losing streak against league opposition. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m.
The host Crusaders are also on a mission. After starting the season with four consecutive victories, they have lost four straight to the district’s most dominant teams. “When you look at the schedule we’ve had, this is a gauntlet,” Head Coach Mark Bonis pointed out. “When you play in this league, you have to be next to perfect.” The defeats were to four teams ranked in the top ten, according to the latest power ratings, based on records and strength of schedule: No. 1 Edna Karr (8-0), No. 2 John Curtis (7-0), No. 6 St. Augustine (7-1), and No. 9 Archbishop Rummel (5-3). The Crusaders are the No. 12 seed and still in a position to host a first-round playoff game. Easton’s 3-5 record places the team in the No. 22 spot, two positions above elimination as a playoff contender
“We are a good team, but we have to work to get better,” said Bonis regarding the 49-16 loss to the Purple Knights. “When you play better teams (like St. Augustine), you have to be next to perfect.” Bonis considers this week’s opponent a capable team, regardless of its record. “We’ll be playing a team that may be one of the most talented in the district. Most of their losses have come against the same teams we lost to,” the coach noted.
Although Brother Martin and Warren Easton have met on the football field just five times since 1999, with the Crusaders holding a 3-2 series lead, there is history hidden behind this rivalry. St. Aloysius, which consolidated with Cor Jesu to create Brother Martin High in 1969, had a long-standing membership in the city’s Prep and Catholic leagues. Its first football team was formed just one year after the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) was founded in 1920. At that time, New Orleans began the fall season with eight prep teams. Immediate rivalries took hold against Warren Easton and Jesuit. Holy Cross would field its first football team a year later. Because the LHSAA was chartered as a public school association, Catholic and other private schools were denied membership until 1929 but were allowed to play against public school members.
In 1921, Warren Easton, the largest school by enrollment in the state, was a football juggernaut. Under Coach Perry Roehm, Easton posted a 13-1-1 record and defeated Minden, 7-0, for its first state championship. Its only loss came against Little Rock High, 21-20, in Arkansas. Thirteen wins were shutouts, and Easton outscored its rivals, 487 points to 27.
The fledgling St. Aloysius team, coached by former Tulane football player Johnny Brown, enjoyed a respectable 4-5-2 record and defeated Prep League rivals Manuel Training (Newman), Rugby Academy, Verrina, and New Orleans Academy. Nicknamed “Saints” by the local sports media, St. Aloysius’ lightweights were no match for Easton when they met on Dec. 7, an infamous day at Pelican Stadium, whose outcome was a 68-0 trouncing. St. Aloysius defeated Warren Easton for the first time in 1932 as a member of the LHSAA.
St. Aloysius was also the Catholic League’s first champion when it was formed in 1955. The Crusaders, which lost to Easton, 12-0, in the first game of that season, avenged that loss by handing the Eagles a 13-0 defeat in the first and only formal City Championship game played between a Catholic and public school. The two schools maintained their off-and-on rivalry through 1968, St. Aloysius’ final football season.
Today, the two are district rivals with a new history to write. “I think we’ve done a good job of preparing for this game. The players know how good Easton is. They are as athletic and physical as any team that we have faced,” Bonis added. “I don’t look at power ratings. I just want our team to be playing its best football at the end of the season and finish the season on a positive note, leading into the playoffs. “And even though the last four weeks have been a struggle, it’s still fun to go out and see your guys working to get better. Anytime you have that, you feel good about things,” he said.
Running back Julian Cutter prepares for a collision with a St. Augustine defender after gaining a first down.
