To kickoff the 2024 LHSAA Playoffs, there was a Division I (Select) Playoff doubleheader at Tad Gormley Stadium.
John Curtis Defeats Brother Martin 21-13:
For the second time this season, familiar Catholic League rivals John Curtis Patriots and Brother Martin Crusaders meet. However, the rematch has bigger stakes on the line as the winner gets to advance in the playoffs while the loser goes home.
Like the first time around when John Curtis won a 17-14 tightly contested battle in the regular season, the Patriots were able to edge out the Crusaders once again to advance to the second round of the playoffs with a 21-13 first round victory in the Division I (Select) Playoffs.
The Patriots were able to jump out to a 14-0 lead led by their quarterback Reggie Johnson. Johnson accounted for 179 yards and two touchdowns while leading three touchdown drives.
The Patriots’ first two touchdowns were a six yard touchdown run from Jack Corcoran and a 29 yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Jacobi Boudreaux.
The Crusaders did not waver as they responded with a 17 yard touchdown run from Julian Cutter to put Brother Martin within a touchdown at 14-7.
The Patriots then went on to have a long methodical drive that is typical from their vaunted veer offense going 80 yards on 10 plays with Johnson keeping it himself on the bootleg for a 11 yard touchdown to give John Curtis a 21-7 lead going into the break.
In the second half, Brother Martin does their John Curtis impersonation marching down the field 75 yards on 11 plays. The Crusaders had trouble for most of the game on fourth down, but Seth Dazet converts it here with a 25 yard touchdown strike to Rex Leblanc to once again put the Crusaders within a score at 21-13. Brother Martin would be unable to convert on the extra point, which gave John Curtis an eight point lead.
Brother Martin was promising to have another successful drive, but Xavier Brown recovered a Crusaders fumble to give John Curtis the ball back.
After moving the ball successfully in the first half, the Brother Martin defense kept the Crusaders in it by only allowing 91 yards and four first downs in the second half after giving up 278 yards and 21 points in the first half.
However, the John Curtis defense also stepped up especially when the Crusaders were moving the football forcing four turnover on downs and a fumble to preserve the 21-13 victory.
This is John Curtis’ fifth straight win over Brother Martin dating back to the Patriots’ 23-0 shutout victory in the Division I (Select) State Championship in 2022. Head Coach J.T. Curtis knows how tough it is to beat a good team twice in one season and he credits that to how his team was able to execute when needed.
“Playing in the league is going to get you ready for these kind of games, but you hit the nail on the head. Beating a team like this twice is a chore. They know what we are going to do. We know what they are going to do. It is going to come down to this type of game. I thought the blocked extra point was huge. It gave us the hope that they have to score and go for two to get a chance to tie it up. It was a big play in the game and sometimes, those things go unnoticed.”
John Curtis HC J.T. Curtis
The #19 John Curtis Patriots (5-5) will advance to the next round of the Division I (Select) Playoffs where they will take on the #3 Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams while the Brother Martin Crusaders (6-5) finish the season at 6-5.
St. Augustine Defeats Carencro 44-7:
The St. Augustine Purple Knights took care of business in the playoff doubleheader at Tad Gormley against the Carencro Golden Bears with a 44-7 victory.
It started from the very beginning when the Purple Knights scored to take a 7-0 lead on a double pass from Derrick Bennett to Patrick Robinson.
The Purple Knights were able to build on their lead pretty quickly with back to back pick sixes including one from Dominique McGill and the other from Tulane defensive end commit Warren Roberts Jr. to make it 19-0.
Vashaun Coulon was sharp for the Purple Knights throwing for 220 yards and two touchdowns to Ray’Quan Williams and Miguel Whitley.
The other two touchdowns were rushing touchdowns by Patrick Robinson and Liondell Caston.
Carencro’s offense struggled to protect the football with four turnovers in the football game including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. The Golden Bears’ only touchdown was scored when Carson Gurzi threw a scoring toss to Chantz Babineaux.
Carencro ends their season at 4-7 while St. Augustine improves to 7-4 and will take on the #8 St. Thomas More Cougars.
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