Julian Cutter (10) splits the John Curtis defense for a sizeable gain during the second half action of their District 9-5A game on Oct. 17.
By: Ron Brocato
The football rivalry between Brother Martin and St. Augustine is the second oldest among local Catholic school programs, dating back to 1969. Once labeled “The battle for Gentilly,” these two parochial neighbors have faced off 56 times over the decades. St. Augustine holds a 31-25 advantage, and as the No. 6-ranked team in Select Division I, the Purple Knights are the favorites to add to their 6-1 record. The game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Tad Gormley Stadium, and as they have been for six of their last seven games, the Crusaders will occupy the visitors’ side of the field.
Brother Martin Head Coach Mark Bonis sees this game as an opportunity for his team to snap its three-game losing streak. Ranked No. 8 in their division, the Crusaders will take a 4-3 record into the game. “We’ve lost three games in a row, but I think we’re still playing good football at times,” the 17-year veteran head coach said. “I view this as an opportunity for us to play a top team in power ratings and go toe to toe with one of the best teams in the state.”
The rivalry began in 1969 when St. Augustine joined the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. The early games matched two coaches who would become Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductees: Bob Conlin of Brother Martin and St. Augustine’s Otis Washington.
Brother Martin defeated the Purple Knights twice in 1971. The first meeting, a 7-0 Martin win on the 10th week of the season, enabled the Crusaders to share the district title with the Knights. They met again for the Class 3A state championship four weeks later. The game, played at Gormley Stadium before a capacity crowd of 24,500, went to the Crusaders, 23-0.
Although Washington would lead the Purple Knights to three state championships during his 11-year stay, he called his 1972 team his greatest. That squad won all 10 regular-season games, shutting out five opponents, only to have the victories nullified by the LHSAA when it was discovered that the Purple Knights used an ineligible player in every game.
That same year, Brother Martin also had its finest team, stocked with players from the ’71 state championship team. But in a bizarre finish to the season, the Crusaders lost to Neville in the semifinal playoff round, 8-0. The game was played on a Tuesday, just four days following a 0-0 tie with Neville. The tiebreaking factors of first downs and penetrations were also deadlocked, making it necessary to replay the game to determine which would vie for the 3A title.
Since Washington left St. Augustine for a college position, the school has seen 11 head coaches come and go; the most successful of whom was Tony Biagas, who, from 1986-2002, had become the school’s most successful with a record of 131-58. But he failed to duplicate Washington’s feat of winning a state title and departed.
Brother Martin’s program has been the most stable among longtime Catholic League schools. Bonis has coached against seven head coaches at St. Aug since 2009, when he became the Crusaders’ head mentor. But he calls his current rival coach, Robert Valdez, one of the best in the league who has brought organization to the Purple Knights’ program. Under Valdez, “They do a great job of playing to their team’s strengths, and their defense has been big and physical. In his two years there, Coach Valdez has done a good job of putting the program at the level it is now. They only have one loss, and it was to Karr. That speaks for itself.”
The Crusaders have been hampered by what the coach calls key injuries, making it necessary to fill positions with younger, less experienced players. “At the end of the season, you want to be playing your best football. So, we have three weeks to be sure that we are before the playoffs start,” Bonis said. “We’re in a brutal league, and the main thing is that we can’t feel bad about ourselves because we’re 4-3. Besides Karr, which is undefeated (and the No. 1 seed in the division), then John Curtis (at No. 2), and St. Aug, everybody else is either 4-3 or worse in the league. So, you have to keep things in perspective.”
The Crusaders end the regular season with games against Warren Easton (3-4) on Oct. 31 and Holy Cross (4-3). Both have lower power ratings. “We will just stay with the process and know that good things will happen. That’s what I take away, not just as a standard of play, but also as a mindset. Our next game is a big rivalry, but we don’t want to get lost in it,” said Bonis.
Quarterback Hudson Fields rolls left on an option play against District 9-5A rival John Curtis.
