By Ron Brocato
Bigger, faster, stronger, and with much more experience than they enjoyed last season, the 2026 edition of the Brother Martin Crusaders enters the prep football season optimistic about their journey of hard knocks as jamboree week kicks off the new campaign.
Entering his 18th season as the Crusaders’ head coach, Mark Bonis will take his team to Marrero on Friday, Aug. 28 to pop pads with former district rival Archbishop Shaw. The three-game mini-series will open with eighth grade teams from the two schools facing off at 5:30 p.m., followed by subsequent games between the schools’ junior varsity and varsity teams. The varsity game is tentatively set for 7:30.
Having eight returning starters on offense and seven on the defensive side is encouraging enough for a coaching staff that has remained intact through the annual rebuilding of a successful program that has been a solid contender in the Division I Select playoffs under Bonis’ guidance.
The additional experience should prove to be a positive sign that the Crusaders are ready to improve upon their 7-5 season record in what is arguably the state’s most competitive Division I district. The 2025 team posted a district record of 3-4.
Seven of the eight District 9-5A teams qualified for the state playoffs. Warren Easton, which will be replaced by Chalmette this season after moving to another district, was the only non-qualifier.
Besides being a year older with more football savvy, Bonis likes what he’s seen since the preseason preparations began over the summer.
“The most important thing about summer workouts was instilling the principles of our ‘Crusader Creed’ by coming together and focusing on football and each other, the coach said.
“The players have prepared themselves well because of the work they’ve put in,” he continues.
“Usually, a team begins preparing in earnest the week of the jamborees. But we have already done the work necessary to prepare for the season.”
Brother Martin’s offense, of course, is centered on a talented senior wide receiver, Easton Royal ‘27, heralded as the fastest sprinter in Louisiana high school history when he set a composite record time of 10.17 seconds in winning the Class 5A 100-meter dash at the 2026 state meet. His speed was clocked at 22 mph.
Opposing coaches are aware of Royal’s potential as a game-breaker. As a junior last season, the 6-1, 208-pound “burner” caught 60 passes for 1,214 yards and 15 touchdowns, placing him No. 6 among local receivers’ recorded numbers and No. 1 in the Catholic League’s all-time list. And Bonis points out that Royal will be even more of a factor this season.
“He will touch the ball a lot more as a receiver and running back. We may motion him in and do different things,” Bonis noted. “Last year I wanted to take care of him because he was an NIL (quality) player. In past years (before NIL designations for top college prospects) that wasn’t an issue. But now you have to think about things like that if you want to have players that are especially talented. You want their families to know their coaches care about them.”
As an athlete entering his final prep season, “the only changes in Easton have been positive,” Bonis said. “I have to force him off the practice field. He's just a competitor, and that’s how you want him.”
Having faced double- and sometimes triple team opposition, Royal was the district’s most difficult problem for a defense. “We did a good job of moving him around, but now the easiest thing to do with him is just hand him the ball.”
Royal’s job should become easier with the emergence of the Crusaders’ two veteran quarterbacks, senior Hudson Fields and junior Justin Morgan. They are nearly interchangeable, noted the coach.
Fields had a productive junior season, having completed 135 of 248 passes for 2,140 yards and 17 touchdowns. The 6-0, 180-pound starter will be backed by Morgan (6-1, 180), who has passed for six touchdowns and rushed for 91 yards in limited play.
While Royal takes the focus on the running game, Brother Martin can counter with two returning ball-carriers who have had productive underclass careers. Senior Jeremiah Burton (5-9, 180) and junior Luca Ascani (508, 199) are the backs to watch.
Ascani has football bloodlines. His grandfather, Peter Ascani, was an all-state back for Warren Easton’s 1958 Class 3A (the highest class at the time) state runner-up. His 22 touchdowns led the LHSAA.
The forward wall that will move the offense consists of linemen Zaaire Condoll ‘27 (6-1, 283), Nicholas Bruno ‘27 (6-2, 257), Caleb Becnel ‘27 (6-3, 292), Benjamin Aucoin ‘28 (6-0, 228) and Mekhi’ Lewis ‘28 (6-0, 295). Sheldon Bruno ‘27 (6-0, 231), Brody DePhillips ‘27 (6-0, 269) and Caden Ballard ‘28 (6-3, 340) will also see action. Tight ends are Brady Balser ‘28 (6-3, 222) and Owen Karl ‘27(510, 193).
Brother Martin’s defense, which yielded an average of 29.5 points in 12 games last season, will be led by junior returner Grant Baglio (5-10, 250), the most experienced lineman whose father, Troy, was an all-state player at John Curtis. Grant has the advantage of being coached by his father, who handles the Crusaders’ defensive line and linebackers.
But eager to show their abilities as the men up front will be Garrett Mead ‘29 (5-10, 266), Gerald Wilson ‘27 (5-9, 273), Oscar Pineda ‘28 (5-10, 205), and Vincent Bryant II ‘29 (6-1, 208).
Backing them are Brady McCluskey ‘27 (5-10, 180) and one of the state’s most outstanding baseball outfielders, Jacob Zavala ‘28 (5-11, 185), and Trey Goodall ‘28 (6-0, 218), who will all see considerable action as inside ‘backers. The outside will be guarded by Dominick Jabbia ‘28 (5-10, 213) and Jordan Campos ‘28 (5-10, 205), with Goodall alternating inside and outside.
Strong safety Gaines Randol ‘27 (5-9, 173) brings a wealth of versatility to the last line of defense, and Grant Guilbeau ‘29 (6-0, 184) and Luca Catanzaro ‘27 (6-1, 172) are also capable strong side defenders.
At the corners, look for Patrick Jones ‘27 (6-0, 172) and Andrew Dyson ‘27 (6-0, 164) to man those posts. Catanzaro will see considerable action as the free safety.
Brother Martin has enjoyed many of the district’s most productive kickers, and senior Maximo Barrios’ name and number should once again be among the best this season. He enters his senior year at 5-10, 170 pounds.
The district will likely be more competitive with the addition of Chalmette, but anticipation is high on Elysian Fields, and everyone who wears crimson and gold uniforms is ready to place the ball on the tee.
“For me, I cannot wait to get back to work every day, as are the position coaches who’ve put the time in,” said Bonis. “The players are asking the right questions about things that matter to them in and outside of football. Collectively, this group is all on point. And I’m proud of them.”
By Ron Brocato
As he enters his 18th year as a teacher and head football coach at Brother Martin, Mark Bonis has established himself as one of the Catholic League’s elite coaches in the sport of hard knocks.
Through his tenure, which began in 2009, Bonis has compiled a record of 126-69, which ranks him No. 6 on the list of most successful mentors whose victories were achieved as a member of the Catholic League.
For one to coach long enough to compile such enviable credentials, one has to have persevered through times of adversity and the many pitfalls present in a district reputed to be the most competitive among teams in Louisiana’s highest classification. Bonis has reached that benchmark by being true to his profession and dedicated to the mission of Brother Martin and the care of its student-athletes.
Of the six head coaches who have paced the Brother Martin sidelines over the decades, Bonis ranks No. 2 behind the legendary Bob Conlin, who led the Crusaders to 203 victories in his 27 years at the helm. Conlin coached the team to a state championship in 1971 (his second season) and to a runner-up trophy in 1969. Under Bonis, Brother Martin claimed the Select Division I runner-up award in 2022.
The most successful head coaches in the 71-year history of the Catholic League, which was formed in 1955, include, by records achieved while in the league, are: 1. Jay Roth, 23 years, 239-62 record at Rummel; 2. Bob Conlin, 27 years, 203-100-5 record, and Hank Tierney, 19 years, 154-78 record.
Tierney’s career record doesn’t reflect Tierney’s coaching stints at West Jefferson and Ponchatoula before returning to Shaw in 2022. By then, the school had dropped out of the district and into a lower class. He enters his 43rd season with a combined 340-133 record.
The elite Catholic League coaches’ list also includes John Kalbacher, who led Holy Cross to a 132-54-7 record over an 18-year span that began in 1958, and St. Augustine’s Tony Biagas, 17 years and a 131-57 record that began in 1986.
Bonis’ tenure makes him the “dean” of current district coaches. His success is followed by John Curtis’ J.T. Curtis, 77-22 record since joining the district in 2017; Rummel’s Nick Monica, 50-22, over five years; Brice Brown of Edna Karr (44-6 record over his four-year span); Ryan Manale, who has posted a 33-36 record at Jesuit since 2021, and Scott Wattigny, with a 16-17 record over three years at Holy Cross. Overall, Curtis, who is in his 57th season at the school opened by and named for his father, has a career record of 609-119-7, most of which was achieved when the school competed in four smaller classes before moving up to Class 5A.