HAMMOND, La. – The 101st meeting between Jesuit and Holy Cross was on the verge of getting out of hand early.
The Blue Jays stormed out to a 28-6 lead in the first half behind their two-headed monster at quarterback, Luke LaForge and Jack Larriviere.
“When we can throw and catch efficiently and we don’t get sacked and we don’t get the quarterback hit and we can move the ball efficiently through the air, that opens up a lot of things for us and it creates some problems for the defenses,” says Jesuit Head Football Coach Scott Bairnsfather.
Head Coach Scott Bairnsfather knew it was only a matter of time before the Tigers tried to claw their way back.
Bairnsfather says, “I had a feeling something was gonna happen, that they were gonna come back, we were gonna stumble our feet, we were gonna fumble someway, they were gonna hit a big play. All of those things happened.”
It didn’t take long.
Holy Cross Quarterback John Dade Wooton would drive down the field and find Jalen Johnson for an 8-yard score.
Jesuit was still leading, 28-12.
Later in the 3rd, the call of the game.
“I just felt like we needed to get a little bit of a spark,” says Holy Cross Head Football Coach Nick Saltaformaggio.
Holy Cross backed up deep in their own territory calls a fake punt, the ball passes midfield and momentum shifts in the Tiger’s favor.
“We felt like we needed to keep the ball at that moment and we were fortunate enough to execute the fake punt,” says Saltaformaggio.
Jesuit would hold but not for long.
Bairnsfather says, “We tried to run the ball in the second half and they played real good defensively in the second half. They made some adjustments, we had a turnover or two so the game see-sawed back and forth.”
In the 4th, Wooton would find johnson again for a 40-yard score and would convert on the 2-point try to bring the Tigers within 8.
With under a minute to play, Holy Cross would have a chance to drive the length of the field and tie the game, but time expired as Wooton tried to spike the ball at mid-field.
“It was pretty much gonna be a miracle to begin with, we just didn’t get it, says” Saltaformaggio.
“We were just up against the clock and I tell our guys all the time Football is a practice game and you’ve got to practice to be really good at it. This week where we had our struggles in practice is where we had our struggles today.”
The Jesuit Blue Jays would take home the Golden Football for the third year in a row with a 28-20 win over Holy Cross.
“It’s a great win for everybody associated with Jesuit,” says Bairnsfather.
