JRNOLA’s Chris Taylor and Wyatt Vaughn covered 2 key high school prep games in Week 4.
Brother Martin vs. John Curtis Christian at Yulman Stadium
by Wyatt Vaughn, Senior at Holy Cross
JRNOLA Coverage of Week 4 of NOLA Prep Football
This week’s game started off all Brother Martin (3-2), but in the end John Curtis (4-0) was too much for them pulling away for a 45-16 victory at Yulman Stadium. After a couple of punts back and forth between the squads, Brother Martin finally broke through with a great punt return all the way up to the Curtis 40-yard line. After a long run by Quarterback Drew Martin to the 16 yard-line, the Crusaders settled for a 31-yard field goal to begin the scoring. After that, John Curtis started to turn up the heat, striking quickly with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Collin Guggenheim to Joel Taylor. After a missed extra point Curtis had taken a 3 point lead over the Crusaders. Brother Martin would come back firing though, as Drew Martin would find receiver John Lewis for a huge gain down to the Curtis 10-yard line. The Patriot defense would stiffen up in response, as SMU commit Donald Clay, would come rushing off the edge and drop the Quarterback for a 14-yard loss. This play would become huge as Brother Martin kicker Jack Landry would miss a 40-yard field goal, giving the ball back to the Patriots. Curtis would quickly strike again as Guggenheim would again find Joel Taylor for a long touchdown. This time the Patriots kicker would make the PAT, making it a 13-3 lead for John Curtis. Things would quickly worsen for the Crusaders as quarterback Drew Martin would overthrow a wide open receiver for an interception, which was returned to the 31-yard line. After the Crusader defense came up with a huge stop on 3rd down, Curtis was forced to kick a 32-yard field goal, extending Curtis’ halftime lead to 16-3. Brother Martin gained a little momentum after the break, starting their drive on the 30-yard line. After a few good first downs by the Brother Martin offense, the Curtis defense stood tall, snuffing out a 4th down screen attempt by Brother Martin.
After taking over on downs, the Patriots again converted on a huge passing play for 39-yards on 3rd and 8. A few more plays and the Patriots were in the endzone again with a 4-yard touchdown run. The Patriots decided to go for two which was easily converted with a Collin Guggenheim option run. Just as Curtis started to take control of the game, Brother Martin made a huge play as returner LJ Gilyot broke a few tackles and returned the kick off 90 yards to the house after muffing the kick and almost letting Curtis recover. The Crusaders really went all out after that, kicking an onside kick and recovering, catching John Curtis completely off guard. With all the momentum on their side Brother Martin looked to get back in the game with a scoring drive. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t capitalize on the field position as they turned the ball over on downs after an incompletion on 4th and 4. John Curtis quickly went down the field unchallenged, finishing off another touchdown drive with a 35-yard touchdown run by Collin Guggenheim. Another great return by LJ Gilyot put Brother Martin all the way in Curtis territory at the 31-yard line, keeping their hopes alive. This time the Crusaders would capitalize on their great field position, with Jaylon Spears capping off the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run making it a 15 point game at 31-16.
After back-to-back punts from both teams, the Patriots found themselves with great field position on the Crusader 46-yard line. Choncee Crum would then get sprung by a great block by #64, Joe Dalferes, gaining 26 yards. A few plays later it was Guggenheim again punching it in from 3-yards out, giving the Crusaders a razor thin margin of error; down by 22 with 6 minutes left. After a nice drive from Brother Martin into Curtis territory, the Patriots’ defense sealed the game with its second interception. The Patriots would add a touchdown late, but it was just icing on the cake, as John Curtis moves to 4-0 on the year, with a showdown looming next week against metro #3 ranked Warren Easton. Brother Martin falls to 3-2 on the season, with a big Catholic League game next week against St. Augustine.
Destrehan HIgh School v. Hahnville High School at Hahnville
by Chris Taylor, Sophomore, St. John the Baptist Parish STEM Magnet Program
In Week 4 of New Orleans Metro Football matchups, the Destrehan Fighting Wildcats met the Hahnville Tigers on their home field for the Battle on the River. Over 5,000 people came out to see these powerhouse schools go head-to-head. When these two teams met last year, Hahnville escaped with a 20-13 win over Destrehan. With both teams coming off of tough losses last week, and looking to use these losses as motivation to bounce back in week 4, Destrehan came out on top, 28-15.
Destrehan received the opening kick and took a 14-0 lead early in the game. Following a recovered fumble midway through the first quarter, Destrehan jumped on the opportunity and scored on a 64-yd touchdown pass from #13 Harold Blood Jr. to #4 John Emery. On their next drive, the Fighting Wildcats scored again on another 30-yd touchdown pass late in the first quarter.On the following kick return, Destrehan forced a fumble, but could not convert and was forced to punt.
The game was filled with lots of back and forth action until Hahnville finally woke up and gave their fans something to cheer for. On a very powerful drive that started on Hahnville’s own 25, and included a long pass from the TIger’s QB #10 Andrew Naquin to #11 Jerry Spencer, Hahnville capped off the drive with a 1-yd run on 4th down to cut the Fighting Wildcats lead to only 7. Hahnville responded by intercepting Destrehan midway through the second, but Destrehan returned the favor and picked off Hahnville. Backed up on their own 4-yd line, power back John Emery fumbled for the third time this season and pushed his offense back to their 1-yd. The fumble lead to a Destrehan safety cutting their lead to 14-9. The safety swang the momentum and fired up the Tigers. Hahnville Joaquin Jackson returned the following kick, but unfortunately it was called back due to a holding call on the return team. This flag proved to be detrimental to the Hornets first half comeback, as Destrehan’s powerful defense stepped up with big sacks and tackles.
Hahnville received the 2nd half kickoff and tried to keep the momentum flowing into the second half. The Tigers drove all the way to the down and capped off their drive with a 5-yd TD. Hahnville took their first lead of the game after 15 unanswered points by their offense.The constant run game was a positive for the Tigers offense to open the half, but the Fighting Wildcats powerful defense soon recognized the Tiger’s gameplan and pounced quickly.
Destrehan quickly answered back after capping off a drive that was lead by 4-star running back John Emery with a 40-yd touchdown to #3 Quinton Torbor, followed by yet another Emery rushing TD with 9 minutes to go in the fourth, to end the game with a 28-15 win, following the successful 2 point conversion.
With this win Destrehan improves to 3-1, and looks ahead to facing off against the Thibodeaux Tigers next week at home. Hahnville will look to end its losing streak against undefeated Terrebonne, on the road.