Jesuit shakes off turnovers for 37-0 rout of Holy Cross

Mike Strom, The Times-Picayune, September 09, 2011 11:46 p.m.

The state's oldest continuous high school football rivalry produced seven turnovers, six in the first half and four in the first 13 minutes. But none of that derailed Jesuit from an impressive 37-0 non-district victory in its 42nd consecutive meeting with Holy Cross on Friday night at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Playing before a crowd of approximately 8,000, the Blue Jays brushed off two interceptions and a lost fumble in rolling to a 23-0 halftime lead, protecting a No. 5 Metro ranking and No. 9 state ranking.

Junior quarterback Tanner Lee threw scoring passes of 48 and 5 yards to senior wide receivers Matt Baldwin and Justin Poole, and middle linebacker Deion Jones returned an interception 75 yards.

The Blue Jays' defense also scored by tackling Tigers running back Kevin Joseph in the end zone for a 2-yard loss and a second-quarter safety, and Ralph Freibert kicked the first three of five successful extra point attempts.

"First of all, this is a rivalry between two tremendous scholastic, athletic and spiritual schools that I am honored to be a part of and our kids are honored to be a part of,'' said Jesuit Coach Wayde Keiser, who improved to 4-1 versus the Tigers. "Our kids played with great intensity, and we had to, to match their intensity. I'm proud of my kids for that.''

Jesuit (2-0) defeated its oldest rival for the fourth consecutive season to increase its series lead to 53-37-1. Holy Cross (0-2) suffered its worst loss to the Blue Jays since consecutive 42-0 losses in 1996 and 1997.

"They are a better team than we are,'' Holy Cross Coach Barry Wilson said. "They got after us, and we couldn't do anything. They did a tremendous job. They're very well-coached and very well-organized. We were just really bad, just horrible.''

The Blue Jays tacked on third-quarter touchdowns on runs of 17 and 67 yards by Cameron Dobbins, the first coming as a quarterback and the second as a tailback behind Lee.

Dobbins rushed for 112 yards and starting tailback Paul Stanton for 100 yards, as the Jays piled up 296 yards rushing, and 442 total, with 16 first downs. Lee completed seven of nine passes for 109 yards and the two touchdowns while playing in a reserve capacity and sharing series with Dobbins. Baldwin caught four passes for 65 yards, and tight end Jay Pyburn had four catches for 49 yards.

Jones and defensive back Alex Yacoubian also had interceptions. Yacoubian's pick set up Jesuit's first touchdown, the Lee-to-Baldwin 48-yard completion.

Jesuit's impressive yardage total made its four turnovers — two interceptions and two lost fumbles — feel like nothing more than a speed bump.

"We don't want turnovers,'' Keiser said. "That's one of the goals on our board, no turnovers. So we didn't get one of our goals tonight.''

Two Holy Cross second-half touchdowns were negated by penalties. Cornerback Ed Eagan returned a kickoff 99 yards after Jesuit's fourth touchdown, but it was wiped out by an illegal block.

Joseph later broke free for a 99-yard scoring run that was called back by another illegal block.

Tigers quarterbacks Tucker Herzog and James Tabary combined to complete 20 of 35 passes for 173 yards. Herzog threw three interceptions in the first half. Joseph finished with 78 yards rushing on 12 carries.

"This is two games in a row that we've made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of penalties,'' Wilson said. "We're laying it on the ground so much. We're throwing picks. You can't do that. If we don't straighten that out, we won't win.''

"What can I say about Debo (Jones),'' Keiser said. "Debo plays hard. He does what we ask him to do. I thought our defensive line did a great job of putting pressure on Herzog.''

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Mike Strom can be reached at mstrom@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7057.