A GAME WITH HISTORY: Holy Cross, Jesuit renew rivalry

“My senior year, we beat them for the city championship, and took two teams (to the playoffs). We met them for the state championship and we won. It was always a meaningful ball game.”

Tonight, at Tad Gormley Stadium, the rivalry renews for the 88th time.

For the first time, though, this game won’t have district implications. After a history of Class 5A showdowns, Holy Cross has moved down to Class 4A following post-Katrina redistricting.

Ask Jesuit alumni and head coach Wayde Keiser if that means a lick, and he’ll tell you no.

“With the way things are set up in the state playoff system, everybody is just as important as district games,” Keiser said.

He added, “I’m glad we’re still playing it. The preparation, the mental attitude. It’s not any different.”

Jesuit and Holy Cross both come in 3-1, having lost their previous games.

Jesuit fell in a close game to Class 5A No. 6 Catholic-Baton Rouge 16-9. Holy Cross wasn’t nearly as fortunate, falling hard to Vandebilt 42-14.

Keiser doesn’t expect his team to see a similar performance by Holy Cross. He harkens back to the Tigers’ season-opener against Salmen for the Holy Cross team he thinks Jesuit will see.

“They were just on, clicking,” Keiser said. “Typical Holy Cross football. They got after it defensively and did a great job moving the ball offensively.”

Holy Cross won that game 28-21. Wilson certainly hopes that’s how his players respond from the devastating loss.

“We kind of do this,” he said. “It’s been our observation with our team. We’ve had these letdowns during the year. We seem to come back and play well after. Whether we will this week or not, we’ll see.”

Both teams have the ability to score on offense. Chris Brady leads Holy Cross, tossing nine touchdowns and completing better than 50 percent of his passes this season.

“Weapons-wise, Chris Brady for sure is a weapon offensively,” Keiser said. “They’ve got a nice crew of receivers. (Kal Bonura) and (Beau Dickinson) do a nice job of going after the ball and making catches in tight positions. Brady is as good as anybody in the metro area throwing the football.”

But the game might not come down to Brady. Jesuit’s Jason Peyton, replacing an injured Chance Van Meter, has rushed for 246 yards and three touchdowns, and caught three passes for 73 yards and a score.

Tonight’s game might not be for the city championship, and it might not showcase two teams vying for a spot in the state championship game like it did when Wilson was in high school. That doesn’t matter, Wilson said.

“We may not be as good as we were in those days, but it’s still competitive,” Wilson said. “Every year you n ever know who’s going to win, regardless of what the record is. That’s what I call I real rivalry.”

Northshore (4-0) at Fontainebleau (3-1), 7 p.m.
Forgive Mike Bourg if he sounded a little down earlier this week. He had just learned that starting quarterback Jervious Epherson is gone for the season with broken bones in his foot.

Bourg might be down, but he’s not out. He’s got a plan, and tonight against District 7-5A rival Fontainebleau, he’ll unveil it. Senior Frank Osgood will get the start. He’s going from long-snapper to starting quarterback.

And Bourg thinks he can handle it.

“His character has been tested and he’s come through with flying colors,” Bourg said. “Frank knows how to play quarterback. We think, as a team, our best chance of winning Friday night is for Frank to step in there and be a leader.”

Osgood played quarterback his freshman year as well as on the JV team. But coaches decided Epherson gave them a better quarterback threat to begin the season, relegating Osgood to special teams.

Now Osgood’s back in control. Don’t look for an advanced offense, though.

“What we have to do now is go back to being extremely simple as far as the passing game,” Bourg said. “We’re going to throw short hitches and slants and go over the top. Frank has an extremely good arm, probably the strongest arm on the team. We think that he’ll b e able to throw.”

But for all the uncertainty Osgood brings into the game, Bourg still thinks the key to the game will be on defense and whether his can stop the Bulldogs. Fontainebleau is averaging nearly 25 points per game, while Northshore is holding opponents to only 11 points.

“The whole key is stepping up on defense,” Bourg said. “Maybe that takes some pressure off of Frank.”

De La Salle (2-2) at Newman (4-0), 7 p.m.
Nelson Stewart knows one thing. De La Salle is better than its 2-2 record leads you to believe.

“They’ve played good people,” Newman’s head coach said. “It is misleading in that the losses were close. They’re a good football team. They’re definitely not a 2-2 team, they’re on the cusp.”

But it’s been the play of Newman’s offensive line that has paved the way for the Greenies to start out on fire. Running backs Andrew Pfeiffer, Wes Luquette and Michael Harris have been able to run nearly at will behind the hogs.

Pfeiffer leads the team, recording more than 300 rushing yards, and Luquette has added four touchdowns.

With Newman being situated in District 10, 2A, a win tonight is important. That district includes St. James, Riverside and perennial state power Curtis. A win against De La Salle not only gets the team power points over a team from a bigger division, it can help give the Greenies momentum heading into district play in two weeks.

“You’ve got to be going in with some sort of momentum,” Stewart said. “You want your kids playing the best. If you come out slow, you’re going to get blown out of the water.”

Nevertheless, beating the Cavaliers might not come easy.

“On the defensive line, they have nice tackles and good end play,” Stewart said. “They’re very fundamentally sound. You’ve got to stop the run and control the line of scrimmage on offense because they will bring pressure inside and out.”