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Blue Jays Defeat Tigers

By BRIAN LAZARE
Correspondent

 Jesuit’s football team played like a team on a mission Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Jays’ last three seasons have all ended in losing streaks.  After a three-touchdown loss to Shaw last week, Jesuit appeared ready for another season-closing slide.

But Jesuit righted itself behind a big-play offense to defeat Holy Cross, 46-22, in a District 11-AAAA game at Tad Gormley Stadium

Jesuit and Holy Cross, both 4-2 in district, are tied for third place behind second-place Shaw, 5-1 in the league.  The Jays, 7-2, are in good shape for at least a wild-card berth if they beat Chalmette.  Holy Cross, 6-3, must defeat Shaw by at least 15 points to have a chance for the playoffs.

Rich Chanove threw four touchdown passes and Mark Smith ran for two touchdowns to lead the Blue Jays.  Jesuit trailed Holy Cross, 22-19, late in the third quarter before scoring four touchdowns.

“A lot of people thought we were down and out after last week’s (21-0) loss, and it looked like we were,” Jesuit coach Frank Monica said.  “But this week, we had great effort.”

Jesuit overcame a blitzing Holy Cross defense with 461 yards, 300 coming on six plays.

On Jesuit’s first possession, Chanove threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Paul Marchand.  Late in the second quarter, with the Jays trailing, 16-6, Chanove ended a three-play drive with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Mike Smith.

In the final minute of the first half, Chanove completed a 40-yard pass to Jason Klein.  Two plays later, Chanove threw a six-yard scoring pass to Mike Smith to put the Jays ahead, 19-6.

After Holy Cross regained the lead in the third quarter on a 18-yard Davie Farragut to Mike Guillot touchdown pass, the Jays took the lead for good, 26-22, with a two-play drive ending in Peter Calamari’s 50-yard touchdown run.  Trey Kreig kicked the extra point.  Jesuit’s last two big plays came in the fourth quarter.  After a Keith Hill fumble recovery, Mark Smith ran 39 yards for a touchdown.  On the Jays’ next possession, a 76-yard run by Calamari set up a one-yard touchdown run by Mark Smith.

Mark Smith rushed for 149 yards and Calamari has 145 yards.

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