Strake Jesuit vs. St. Thomas (TAPPS)

[htownfootball]

Strake Jesuit Crusaders vs. St. Thomas Eagles
Houston, Texas at Rice Stadium

Jesuit is coming off a win 37-14 win over the St. Pius X Panthers who have whooped the Eagles for the past 4 years. St. Thomas is 0-2 losing to C.E. King in overtime last Friday night. Jesuit's momentum of a big win over 5A playoff contender Baytown Lee and TAPPS powerhouse St. Pius X should be more than enough to sweep the Eagles for the 9th straight year.
Even without highly recruited RB Grant Jefferson, Jesuit made up for the loss with sophomore Jeff McVaney who had a 39 yard rushing TD in the game. Other players that did well were K/WR Jonathan Madsen, WR/FS Stephen Tyree, RB/DB Jonathan Moore (interception for TD called back), QB Tim Bandy and a touchdown catch by TE David Tscheope. Risky calls such as 4th and 1 and a reverse play for a TD gave the Crusaders the upper hand in their win after being down as much as 11 points to the Panthers.
With a win this Friday night, Jesuit will be looking forward and never turning around once to Texas 5A football with a game at Crusader Stadium versus the Katy Tigers in front of a potential sold out/over-flowing crowd. With the influx of transfering Jesuit students from New Orleans Jesuit due to Hurricane Katrina, Jesuit will recieve several players. One player that is rumored to come/maybe already at Strake (can't say) is the NOLA Jesuit RB who is all-state and whose eligibility begins for 19-5A district games.

[dada]

Strake Jesuit Crusaders vs. St. Thomas Eagles
Houston, Texas at Rice Stadium

Jesuit is coming off a win 37-14 win over the St. Pius X Panthers who have whooped the Eagles for the past 4 years. St. Thomas is 0-2 losing to C.E. King in overtime last Friday night. Jesuit's momentum of a big win over 5A playoff contender Baytown Lee and TAPPS powerhouse St. Pius X should be more than enough to sweep the Eagles for the 9th straight year.
Even without highly recruited RB Grant Jefferson, Jesuit made up for the loss with sophomore Jeff McVaney who had a 39 yard rushing TD in the game. Other players that did well were K/WR Jonathan Madsen, WR/FS Stephen Tyree, RB/DB Jonathan Moore (interception for TD called back), QB Tim Bandy and a touchdown catch by TE David Tscheope. Risky calls such as 4th and 1 and a reverse play for a TD gave the Crusaders the upper hand in their win after being down as much as 11 points to the Panthers.
With a win this Friday night, Jesuit will be looking forward and never turning around once to Texas 5A football with a game at Crusader Stadium versus the Katy Tigers in front of a potential sold out/over-flowing crowd. With the influx of transfering Jesuit students from New Orleans Jesuit due to Hurricane Katrina, Jesuit will recieve several players. One player that is rumored to come/maybe already at Strake (can't say) is the NOLA Jesuit RB who is all-state and whose eligibility begins for 19-5A district games.
Is the St.Pius-Reagan game at St.Pius or Dyer stadium...I've heard conflicting stories.

[htownfootball]

it's at st pius's parsley field according to the web site. they have 8 home games in a row then end the season with a beating of their shepherd drive rival st thomas HS.

[dada]

it's at st pius's parsley field according to the web site. they have 8 home games in a row then end the season with a beating of their shepherd drive rival st thomas HS.
Good thing Reagan dosent have a big fan following...I'm gonna check out the St.Pius-Kinkaid game this weekend and safe on gas.

[htownfootball]

pius kinkaid should be a good game for top nonjesuit prep school in texas football. the kinkaid coaches were at jesuit fri night scouting pius, jesuit made them look bad but theyll go far in TAPPS they always do. every year jesuit beats them badly but they always go far last year they went to the state game for TAPPS 6A after jesuit beat them by 30.

[dada]

pius kinkaid should be a good game for top nonjesuit prep school in texas football. the kinkaid coaches were at jesuit fri night scouting pius, jesuit made them look bad but theyll go far in TAPPS they always do. every year jesuit beats them badly but they always go far last year they went to the state game for TAPPS 6A after jesuit beat them by 30.
Pius always have good athletes.....Yamr Washington put up a 3,000 yd rushing season there his sophmore year then went on to Klien Forrest and where Sloan Thomas???(I think) was QB. I think he's at Indiana now.

[dada]

or was it Tony Jefferies?

[htownfootball]

yeah pius always gets the best athletes thast why st thomas never beats them and tehy always go far in TAPPS. but after a while these rivalry series are just mental thinking they wont win like st thomas losing to strake 8 years in a row and st pius beating them too.

[htownfootball]

Strake Jesuit rolls to victory over St. Thomas
Crusaders improve to 3-0 for first time in four years
By EMILY DAVIS
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

For Strake Jesuit, Friday night's game against St. Thomas was as much about working through adversity as it was collecting another win over their crosstown rival.

The Crusaders lost starting tailback Grant Jefferson to a torn ACL last week, and backup tailback John Stell suffered a cut liver in the season opener against Baytown Lee. Jefferson is out for the season, and Stell will miss four weeks.

But the biggest blow to Strake Jesuit's program was when news came 10 days ago that head coach Ron Counter was in the hospital after suffering a heart attack. Counter was released from the hospital on Thursday, but the Crusaders were ready for some good news when they marched into Rice Stadium to face off with the Eagles.

They got it in the form of a 48-6 win — Strake Jesuit's eighth straight against St. Thomas in a bitter rivalry that spans nearly six decades.

"This is a big, big game for us," said Strake assistant Larry Finke, who has been filling in for Counter as head coach. "I've been here 20 years, and I've always said this is one of the biggest games of the year."

Still, the Crusaders were looking for more than just a reason to celebrate on Friday. Strake (3-0) is off to its best start since 2001 when the team went 10-0



The Crusaders have wins over District 22-5A's Baytown Lee and TAPPS power St. Pius. And with Katy waiting in the District 19-5A opener on Sept. 23, Strake Jesuit wanted to make the most of its final non-district game.

"We wanted to work a lot of things out before district started," Strake quarterback Tim Bandy said. "And in a game situation like this where it's a rivalry, it was a good one to get things figured out."

Although its running game is still full of question marks after losing Jefferson and Stell — the Crusaders used three different running backs, including Ben Werner, who had 65 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries — Strake Jesuit more than made up for those on defense. The Crusaders forced six fumbles and recovered five of them, including four in the first half. They returned two for touchdowns.

Junior linebacker Stephen Nijoka ran one in from 25 yards with 6:10 left in the first quarter, and senior defensive back Memo Torre returned another 42 yards to put Strake up 28-0 two minutes later.

Another fumble recovery on St. Thomas' first possession of the game put Strake Jesuit on the Eagles' 19-yard line.

The Crusaders found the end zone two plays later when quarterback Tim Bandy scrambled in for a one-yard score to give Strake a 7-0 lead.

Strake also had two interceptions as one was returned 44 yards by senior free safety Stephen Tyree.

"Our defense was able to come in there and take the wind out of their sails in the first half," Finke said. "That was a huge aspect of this game, but I really feel like we had all three phases really working for us."

Strake Jesuit's special teams also came up big. Kicker Jonathan Madsen was 6-for-6 on extra points and two-for-two on field goals — his longest was a 45-yarder with 59 seconds left in the third to give Strake its final points of the night.

Junior Moses Ogbonnaya blocked St. Thomas' extra point on its only touchdown of the game — Elliot Bush's six-yard run with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.

The senior Jonathan Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give Strake a 35-6 lead with 36 seconds left in the first quarter.

"Special teams was big," Madsen said. "I think we looked really good in this game. I kicked in some pressure situations, and that was good to have those."

Strake was held to three points in the second half as St. Thomas stepped up its defense. But the game was comfortably in hand for Strake.

So despite a rough first few weeks of the season, Strake Jesuit found its footing with more on the line than just a third straight win.

With hundreds of fans packed into Rice Stadium, with pride on the line and fallen teammates on their minds, the Crusaders trudged on.

And with the knowledge that their beloved coach was home recovering and cheering their every move from bed, Strake's players got what they'll always consider their biggest win of the season.

"I know both sides look at this as a huge game," St. Thomas coach Charlie Burton said. "But you can't have (seven) turnovers against a team like Strake Jesuit and expect to win.

"I am really proud of our effort in the second half, though, and we'll take this game and build on it."

STRAKE JESUIT 48, ST. THOMAS 6
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final
Strake Jesuit 35 10 3 0 48
St. Thomas 6 0 0 0 6



Game Statistics
Strake Jesuit St. Thomas
First Downs 9 7
Rushes - Yards 37 - 143 31 - 99
Comp-Att-Int 4 - 8 - 0 4 - 11 - 2
Passing yards 110 47
Punts-avg. 3 - 36.7 6 - 30.2
Fumbles-lost 0 - 0 5 - 4
Penalties-yards 6 - 55 1 - 15
Highlights
The 45 yard field goal for Jonathan Madsen.

Notables
The 90 yd kickoff return by Jonathan Moore in the first quarter with 36 seconds left.

Scoring Summary

STJ-Tim Bandy 1 run (Jonathan Madsen kick) 11:32, 1st
STJ-Jonathan Moore 3 run (Madsen kick) 6:51, 1st
STJ-Stephen Nijoka 25 fumble return (Madsen kick) 6:10, 1st
STJ-Memo Torre 42 fumble return (Madsen kick) 4:10, 1st
ST-Elliott Bush 6 run (kick failed) 0:50, 1st
STJ-Moore 90 kickoff return (Madsen kick) 0:36, 1st
STJ-Ben Werner 1 run (Madsen kick) 4:48, 2nd
STJ-Madsen 35 FG 0:35, 2nd
STJ-Madsen 45 FG 0:59, 3rd


Leading Rushers
ST Sean Farrell 14-52
ST Elliott Bush 3-28 , 1 TD
STJ Ben Werner 26-65 , 1 TD
STJ Tim Bandy 3-21 , 1 TD
STJ Jonathan Moore 2-10 , 1 TD


Leading Passers
ST Dylan Stout 4-11-2, 47 Yards
STJ Tim Bandy 4-8-0, 110 Yards


Leading Receivers
ST Sean Farrell 2-22
STJ Jonathan Madsen 2-61


Interceptions
STJ Memo Torre 1
STJ Stephen Nijoka 1

[TheOnceandFutureKnight]

Why does the Chronicle waste its staffwriters on games that everyone knows the outcome of beforehand?