Crusaders Fall to Blue Jays 17-14

In a rival District 9-5A matchup on Saturday afternoon, Jesuit defeated Brother Martin (8-1; 3-1) 17-14 in a game in front of a crowd of 4,000 fans.

The Blue Jays stunted the Crusader offense in the first half to take a 14-0 lead after two quarters of play.  The Crusaders had their best scoring chance of the half after Jake Broggi hit Bruce Jordan-Swilling on a short passing route. Jordan-Swilling broke free and fumbled, but teammate Jeremy Singleton snatched the loose ball and took it another 53 yards to the Jesuit 2-yard line.  Jesuit came up with a goal-line stand, holding the Crusaders to minus four yards on three plays. Place-kicker Glynn Morere then misfired on a windy 22-yard field-goal attempt.

In the third period, Brother Martin finally broke through on a 31-yard drive after a short Blue Jay punt into the stiff wind. Broggi scored from one yard on fourth down to cut the deficit in half, 14-7, at 3:19.

Jesuit would increase its lead to 17-7 at 4:19 of the final quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Crew Jacobs.

The Crusaders rebounded quickly, as Broggi found Irv Smith on a crossing pattern for 55 yards on the first snap on the ensuing possession. Four plays later, Jared West scampered into the endzone from 7 yards to make the score 17-14 with 2:53 remaining.

Jesuit’s offense appeared in position to kill the clock but the Blue Jay running back had the ball stolen from his grasp by senior safety Roderic Teamer with 1:32 left. Starting at its own 10-yard line with 1:31 remaining, Brother Martin advanced the ball, but the effort ran out at the 49-yard line with the final pass batted down as time ran out.

Brother Martin (8-1, 3-1) can earn a share of the district championship with a win when they finish the regular season against undefeated Rummel on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Joe Yenni.