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Holy Cross 20, Jesuit 10

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The Tigers utilized eight third-down conversions to keep the ball and clock on their side in a season-ending victory over their oldest rival Saturday at Tad Gormley Stadium in a game that had playoff-bound Jesuit playing catch-up all the way.

Holy Cross scored on its first possession of each half and built a 17-0 lead before the Blue Jays rallied back into the game.  But the Tigers held up well against an all-out passing attack by sophomore reserve quarterback Ricky Chanove to preserve the victory.

Both teams ended the regular season with 7-3 records, but Jesuit will enter the LHSAA playoffs against Belaire of Baton Rouge as the District 11-AAAA runner-up with a 6-2 record.  The tigers were 4-3 in district.  The Jesuit-Belaire game will be played at 7 p.m. Friday at Olympia Field in Baton Rouge.

The Tigers’ offensive line opened big holes for Mike Guillot (96 yards on 16 carries) and held off Jesuit’s pass rush enough for quarterback Pat Garrity to complete 10 of 16 passes for 162 yards.  It was this balance that enabled Holy Cross to dominate the first half.

The Tigers scored on a 69-yard drive on their first possession, picking up four first downs on big runs by Guillot, who ended the march by scoring from the two-yard line.

Bobby Leaber ended another long scoring drive of 82 yards, with a 37-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 10-0 halftime lead after a Jesuit drive that ended at the Holy Cross 19 when Steven Rayes recovered a Blue Jay fumble.

 Garrity and Louis Puissigur teamed on a 35-yard touchdown pass early in the third period when Puissigur shook free of coverage to make the score 17-0.

But Jesuit came back behind Chanove, subbing for Mike Smith, who was ineffective throwing the ball early in the game.  With starting quarterback Jimmy Treigle out with an injury, Chanove led an all-out passing attack.

He completed eight of 16 passes, including a 57-yard touchdown pass to Elliot Prieur, who slipped through two defenders midway through the third period.  Jesuit’s defense stopped the Tigers’ ensuing drive, and Chanove moved the Jays within scoring range for a 25-yard field goal by Doug Kinler.

Holy Cross answered with a 30-yard field goal by Leaber to end the scoring, then came up with two big defensive plays – a third-down sack by tackle Louis Cancienne, and a batted down pass in the end zone by Keith Baroni to end the Jays’ final threat.

“We’re going to the playoff, but we’re not a good football team right now,” said Jesuit coach Frank Monica, whose team lost its last two games.  “I know we had a lot of injuries, but good teams are supposed to overcome things like that.”
Holy Cross’ first-year coach Vic Eumont said he felt his team should have been in the playoffs because it lost two games to teams that it should have beaten.  “But that’s the way the district is.  We beat two teams that will be in the playoffs.”

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