On Saturday, the best seniors in the Baton Rouge are competed in the 21st annual Red Stick Bowl, with the Patriots taking home the victory 31-7. It was a great showcase for many great players, giving them one last chance to play high school football before moving on to college, but it also was an opportunity for a few Gridiron Football All-American Bowl commits to show their skills a week before our festivities begin. Most notably, Jerry Horne of Denham Springs was electric playing quarterback on Saturday. He earned Player of the Game honors with an impressive performance through the air, tossing 3 touchdown passes in victory for the Patriots.
That being said, the game didn’t start out that way, as we saw a more defensive battle for both teams in the beginning. The Patriots started with the ball and, after getting a couple first downs, Horne’s pass bounced off the receiver’s hands and fell into the arms of Baker’s Malik August, who made an athletic play to manage to keep his feet in bounds.
But then, just two plays later, the Patriots got the ball right back. The starting QB for the Eagles, Madison Prep’s Tylan Johnson, threw an interception to Gridiron Football Bowl Game commit Caleb Ricks of St. Amant. Ricks would go on to win Best DB for the Patriots, in part because of this pick.
Jerry Horne also had the issue of an impressive pass rush bearing down on him throughout the game, headlined by Scotlandville’s Antonio Cooley, the winner of the Best DL award for the Eagles. Cooley was unstoppable in this game, finishing with 3 sacks, 2 of them coming in the 1st quarter, and seemed to be the most impactful player for the Eagles in this game.
After a bit of a stalemate to start, Horne broke it open on his 3rd drive of the game, finding Joshua Thomas of Slaughter Charter over the middle. Thomas then broke two tackles and was able to waltz into the endzone after that for a huge explosive touchdown to get the Patriots on the board.
The first half continued uneventfully for a time as we seemed destined to a 7-0 score at the half. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Patriots broke the game open. The Eagles had the ball with about a minute left as Plaquemine’s Nico Victorian was leading his team down the field. He took a deep shot down the sideline, but the Patriots came up with their 2nd interception of the day, this time by East Ascension’s Earnest Mitchell, who went up and won the contested catch situation. On the very next play, before the cameras were even set, Kentwood’s Jermaine Brown had beaten his defender by a step. Jerry Horne didn’t miss, and Jermaine Brown finished the play for an 80 yard touchdown pass, giving us our 14-0 halftime score. Brown won the Best WR award for the Patriots.
The Eagles fought back, putting together a drive down the field to finally get on the board to start the 2nd half. Madison Prep’s Alfred McKnight punched it in to finish the drive and put the game back within a touchdown. McKnight won best RB for the Eagles.
After a Brek Schultz (from Live Oak) field goal put the Patriots up 17-7, the Eagles were trying to get back within striking distance early in the 4th quarter when disaster struck and put the game out of reach. Tylan Johnson failed to take in a bad snap and the ball hit the ground, where it was scooped up by Parkview Baptist’s Jackson Byerley. Byerley picked it up and ran it all the way back for a touchdown, all but sealing the game by giving the Patriots a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter. Byerley won the Best LB award for the Patriots.
Horne threw one last touchdown pass to Jermaine Brown to finish things off late in the game and give us our final score of 31-7. This was a complete team victory for the Patriots, who consistently moved the ball on offense and was able to slow down the Eagles’ attack on defense.
Here is the full list of awards from the game:
- Best Special Teams
- Eagles: Luke Legendre, Dutchtown
- Patriots: Brek Schultz, Live Oak
- Best Offensive Lineman
- Eagles: Cornelius Selman, Woodlawn
- Patriots: Preston Jones, University High
- Best Defensive Lineman
- Eagles: Antonio Cooley, Scotlandville
- Patriots: Donte Flowers, Walker
- Best RB:
- Eagles: Alfred McKnight, Madison Prep
- Patriots: Cayden Jones, Walker
- Best LB:
- Eagles: Mekell Toussaint, North Iberville
- Patriots: Jackson Byerley, Parkview Baptist
- Best QB/WR
- Eagles: Josiah Hogan, Brusly
- Patriots: Jermaine Brown, Kentwood
- Best DB
- Eagles: Scott Walker, Scotlandville
- Patriots: Caleb Ricks, St. Amant
- Player of the Game:
- Jerry Horne, Denham Springs
Check out pictures from the game here!
Photos by Zach Lafountaine
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