The Catholic League in New Orleans is the toughest football district in the state.
Jesuit made that clear on Friday in Lafayette, shutting out St. Thomas More in the second half and scoring the final 20 points of a 30-10 win over the Cougars.
“I was very proud of how the guys played on both sides of the ball,” Blue Jays coach Ryan Manale said. “That was a war. (STM) is a physical football team. This was a battle.”
The Blue Jays (2-0) scored the first 10 points, with Jack Maguire intercepting the Cougars to set up a short drive capped by Sully Sullivan’s six-yard pass to Benjamin Neff, who added a TD catch from quarterback Mani Vandenweghe in the third quarter.
“It was a great performance,” Sullivan said. “There were a couple of mistakes I’d obviously love to have back, but our run game was really sharp tonight. We kept gashing them.”
Junior running back Michael Cerruti, who ran for two TDs, finished with 167 yards on 21 carries. Sullivan added 44 yards on eight attempts and completed 18 of 25 passes for 185 yards.
“It was an absolute war,” Manale said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my offensive and defensive coaches preparing, adjusting, staying the course and finding a way to wear down a really good football team.”
After Jesuit went up 10-0 on a 23-yard field goal by sophomore Charlie Corbello, STM answered with 10 points in the second quarter. Cougars sophomore quarterback Grayson Hemard threw a 23-yard TD pass to William Foreman, and Pierce Perret kicked a 31-yard field goal.
“We knew it would be physical,” STM offensive coordinator Shane Savoie said. “You watch them on film and get a pretty good idea of who they are up front. We felt like we had some matchup options and liked some stuff on the edge. It just put a lot of pressure on a sophomore quarterback.”
Cerruti’s one-yard plunge gave the Blue Jays a 16-10 halftime lead. STM drove into the red zone on its second possession before fumbling it away. Jesuit had the ball at the STM 14 on the final play of the first half and threw an incompletion instead of settling for another field goal.
“We left some points on the board with some clock management on my end in the first half,” Manale said. “I’m going to tell you: I’ve been here before. I know this place, and I have a lot of respect for this place.
“It’s a beautiful place to play, and a beautiful environment. This was about my kids. They got excited to play here tonight.”
The Cougars intercepted Jesuit on its first possession of the second half and drove deep into Blue Jays’ territory but failed to convert on 4th and 2.
Jesuit responded with a long drive capped by Vandenweghe’s 23-yard pass to Neff. Vandenweghe had a 10-yard run and caught a 10-yard pass from Sullivan. Tulane commit Ja’ir Burks added six receptions for 80 yards.
“It was good to get everybody the ball and spread it around the field,” Sullivan said. “It shows we’re not a one-dimensional team. We can throw the ball over the top. Our run game is amazing. Having Mani in there is a change of pace. He provides something teams have never seen.”
Hemard completed 22 of 34 passes for 240 yards and rushed for 86 yards on 13 carries for STM. Owen Bailey had 43 yards on nine touches. Foreman and Jacques Christie combined for seven catches and 95 yards.
“Jesuit did a great job mixing things up defensively,” Savoie said. “They tried to confuse us and maybe a few times in big situations they were able to. That’s the key. We had one punt on the night. We moved the ball when we needed to. On those big pressure downs, they were able to get us a little confused.”
Five teams in the LSWA Class 5A top 10 last week were from the Catholic League. Jesuit, which received the fifth-most votes outside of the top 10, could be next. STM (1-1) was 12th in votes received.
“They should watch out for Jesuit,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to be good.”
