Brother Martin Football: Built on Team, Toughness, and the Will to Finish
by: Mike Strom // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Team, Tough, Compete, Finish.
These four components embody the foundation of Brother Martin football as persuasively stated in the “Crusader Football Creed’’ composed by faculty members Dr. Tony Melito and Coach Mark Bonis in 2015.
Team, Tough, Compete, Finish.
These are not mire words penned by Melito, a noted sports psychologist in the New Orleans area, and Bonis, now in his 16th season in charge of Crusaders football. Rather, these are sentiments that supply a constant beacon of light and invaluable reference point for Brother Martin athletes both in good times and bad.
Case in point.
It was two weeks ago when the then-undefeated Crusaders sustained a crushing 17-5 loss to their Catholic League rivals from Jesuit in the District 9-5A opener for each team. The humbling defeat set the wheels in motion for a week-five, re-evaluation of the program’s current values.
The reset button was hit and the Crusaders responded in stirring fashion with a 17-13 conquest of previously unbeaten and state-ranked Rummel.
Brother Martin’s victory, its fourth in five games, featured a defensive charge reminiscent of the way Crusaders football traditionally has been played in addition to a resurgence on offense inspired by the passing of quarterback Seth Dazet and wide receiver Easton Royal.
“The Creed was written after I was head coach and it talks about our program principles,’’ said Bonis, still a youthful 45-year-old, who now ranks as the Dean of Catholic School football coaches in the New Orleans area.
“It’s about committing to a standard of excellence,’’ Bonis said. “At the end of the day, I don’t care about records, I don’t care about scores. It’s about concentrating on those principles. So if our (players) can live by those principles, they’re going to be successful. All of that other stuff takes care of itself.’’
The week five eval pinpointed two primary areas of concern.
Bonis accepted blame for pushing his young team a bit too hard by scheduling an overload of fully padded practices designed to steel his troops for the rigors of Catholic League football. Those intense workouts coupled with a demanding road trip to Texas following a week of disarray created by the arrival of Hurricane Francine proved consequential.
Brother Martin players were not spared, however, as Bonis lit into them for being too lackadaisical in their game preparations.
“I know people say this is a results-oriented game and it is, but you’ve got to focus on the process,’’ Bonis said echoing one of his familiar refrains. “For me, it all goes back to those core principles: Team, Tough, Compete, Finish.
“From the toughness standpoint, there were some things that were exposed with us in the Jesuit game. But it had more to do with being complacent. We don’t want to go out there (in practice and training) and checkboxes. Everybody practices.
“After the Jesuit week, we kind of called that out. It’s one thing talking about committing to a standard of excellence, it’s another thing doing it. So the toughness aspect had to do with just being complacent in the mental toughness aspect, complacent (in a sense) of not necessarily putting in the proper preparation in during the work week.’’
Brother Martin players, to their credit, accepted the coaching staff’s constructive criticism and set out to correct the equation.
“I’d say we have put that behind us,’’ All-District defensive lineman Nathan Malek said. “Especially coming in this past week (prior to the Rummel game), it really was one of those things that we realized that we’ve got to play better and we’ve got to come together more.
“In that (Jesuit) game, in that week of practice, it’s seen as the rivalry game and the big game, so it can get in your head if you can’t block it out. I think that was one of our issues. We had guys getting caught up in it, getting caught up in the moment.
“And at practice, too, like Coach (Bonis) said, we had guys who didn’t really buy in fully and we had practices where we were either lazy or we just weren’t getting the things done that we needed to get done. I think that with these (challenging) weeks and everything else ahead if we don’t come in and practice the same (way) every time as hard as we can, there’s no point. Because complacency kills. And it obviously took a toll on us (versus Jesuit).’’
The Crusaders successfully flipped that switch in one week’s time to down Rummel by shutting down the Raider’s running game while Dazet dazzled in coming off of the bench to spark the offense.
Already nursing an elbow and back injury aggravated against Jesuit, Dazet was forced into action after his replacement, Hudson Fields, sustained an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that is expected to sideline the sophomore brother of former Rummel quarterback Chandler Fields for at least two weeks.
Dazet completed 5 of 7 passes for 116 yards without being intercepted while hitting Royal for long second-half touchdown strikes covering 57 and 53 yards that overcame a 7-3 deficit. The first touchdown pass four minutes into the third quarter put Brother Martin ahead to stay at 10-7 with the second score coming midway through the final period padded the advantage to 17-7.
“I feel like the loss against Jesuit was kind of needed,’’ All-District cornerback Treshoun Ware said. “As a team, we were kind of splitting apart from the way we played in those first three weeks. There were some players in the locker room saying, ‘Like, if you do this,’ and just like pointing fingers. The Jesuit loss really opened everyone’s eyes up to like, ok, I need to do my job first before I tell anyone else what to do.’’
The Rummel victory, Royal said after catching four passes for 132 yards, “showed how our team can handle adversity.’’
“I think that everyone just bought in,’’ Ware said. “Our time to shine really came to us and (the players) took advantage of the moments. We looked better versus how we came out against Jesuit versus how we came out against Rummel.
“We finished the game. We started strong. We finished strong even though that was something we had been struggling with. I feel like as team we came out against Rummel and (knew) we had to get this win. We need to put ourselves back on top where we belong.’’
The Crusaders, 4-1 overall, evened their District 9-5A record at 1-1 with the Rummel victory and now stand tied among five teams for second place behind Karr (4-0 overall, 2-0 in 9-5A).
Unranked Brother Martin and Karr meet at 7 p.m. Friday at City Park’s Tad Gormley Stadium in a reprise of a 19-7 Karr victory from a year ago. A two-time reigning District 9-5A champion, Karr is ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 5A by both geauxpreps.com and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association poll.
Brother Martin is ranked No. 4 in the all-important Division I Select power ratings compiled by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, however. The Crusaders are behind No. 1 Karr, Acadiana (4-1), and Teurlings Catholic (5-0) and ahead of No. 5 Rummel and No. 6 St. Augustine.
“We’re 4-1 and wish we were 5-0, but if you look at the course of the season we’ve made some breaks,’’ Bonis said. “We also could not be 4-1 as well. We could have a couple of more losses.
“The Jesuit game, I’ll take the blame. I think our team was tired and fatigued. We took a trip (to Port Arthur, Texas). It was a cumulation of a couple of things. You had a storm (Hurricane Francine) that hits and we play St. Paul’s on a Saturday instead of a Friday (the week before). We come back and take a trip to Texas, we’re on the road for 11 hours.
“I usually do a pretty good job of having a pulse of the team. But I probably (pushed) a little harder than I should have during the Jesuit week of preparation and I think it showed. I thought we looked tired. That’s on me. I probably pushed a little too hard.’’
Having spoken with coaching peers in the league, it now is clearly evident to Bonis and others that the expanded District 9-5A — with the addition of Warren Easton to an already uber-competitive mix that includes Brother Martin, Rummel, Jesuit, Holy Cross, St. Augustine, John Curtis and Karr — requires a modified approach.
“The big thing that head coaches in this league have to do is knowing their team and seeing where they are,’’ Bonis said. “You have to know how to play the rest of the season in keeping their guys fresh. Because the league is the way it is, it really forces you to change things. Even though you’ve only added one more team (and a seventh game), it’s really changed the way that you have to approach the season.
“Things you would do later in the season, like coming off of (full) pads (in practice) or reducing the length of practice, I think you have to look at doing that a little bit earlier if you want to make the playoffs and make that deep run in the playoffs. So that’s something that grabbed my attention right away.
“We missed opportunities (versus Jesuit), yes, but I felt we looked lethargic. For us to be lethargic and that was week four, it kind of told the story to me. So you come back for Rummel and a lot of people would have really gotten after it on Monday. We went in helmets (and shorts). I thought it was a big deal because it allowed us to heal up.
“Then we had a really good Tuesday practice. We went half pads (helmets, shoulder pads, shorts) and I thought we played and looked much better against Rummel. We still made a lot of mistakes, but we looked fresh. I thought we moved around well, which in playing a very athletic team in Rummel where you’ve got to rally to the football, I thought we looked good at times in all three phases. We still haven’t put a complete football together, but it is still so early in the season.’’
By Brother Martin’s accounts, it likely may take a complete football game to defeat Karr’s two-time reigning District 9-5A champions, not to mention ensuing tests against John Curtis, St. Augustine, Warren Easton, and Holy Cross.
“So it’s great that we’re 4-1,’’ Bonis said. “But I’ve been doing this long enough to know that (this league is) a gauntlet. You just look at college football at what happened with Alabama and Vandebilt (which upset No. 1 Alabama). There is none on our schedule where you say that’s a gimme. They’re all tough games.’’
Against Karr’s star-studded cast, the demands are ratcheted exponentially.
“You’ve got to play real well,’’ Bonis said. “When you have opportunities, you have to take advantage of your opportunities. Defensively, we’ve got to play well in space.
“Special teams last year we gave up a big punt return that was the ending play. So you’ve got to be good in special teams. You’ve got to be good in space there.
“Offensively, we’ve got to get even better. We’ve got to do a better job than we did last week (versus Rummel) and continue to improve in the trenches in the running game. That’s a point of emphasis every year, but because we’re so young in spots, it’s something that we’re doubling down here.
“So it’s a great test for us. We were a little bit better last week. Can we get even better versus Karr?’’
The Cougars are special cats with current and future SEC commitments roaming all across the field, like wide receiver Taron Francis (LSU), defensive linemen Richard Anderson (LSU) and Corey Adams (Ole Miss) and safety Aiden Hall (LSU). Not to mention wide receivers like Oliver Mitchell (Tulane) and Daejawn Smith and junior quarterback John “Hollywood’’ Johnson and senior running back Bryant Sanchez.
“Their success speaks for itself,’’ Bonis said. “They’ve got players everywhere. Brice (Brown) does a good job (coaching). In all honesty, (and) this isn’t coach speak, in the middle of the season, you want to see where you are. When you play a team like this, you’re going to find out right away.
“Rummel exposed some things for us, so there’s some things we’re trying to fix this week. The same thing with Karr. Karr is a very well-coached team. They’ve got great athletes. They’re going to find things and they’re going to expose you.
“And you’re doing that every week with a talented group, so hopefully by the end of week 10 you’re able to stay healthy. That’s the biggest concern. But by week 10 if you’ve been playing against very good football teams with very good coaches, if your weaknesses haven’t been exposed by then, then most people (in the playoffs) aren’t going to find them.’’
“To me, I enjoy (competition). I really do,’’ Bonis added. “I’m competitive. I want to compete. I think our kids have that same type of mindset. So you do want to compete against the best. The biggest concern in the back of your head is (doing it) over and over and over and just hoping that you stay healthy.
“Because you know that there are other teams in the state that are talented that you can match up with that maybe have only two or three tests in the year as opposed to 10. As long as you can stay healthy, you know you’ll be battle-tested.’’
Inside linebacker Jadon Weber, Malek, and Ware lead Brother Martin’s defensive charge with Hall, a 6-foot, 215-pound senior, recording a team-leading 46 tackles that includes 31 solos along with 4 tackles for losses, 1 sack, 2 quarterback hits, and 1 pass break-up.
Malek, a 5-foot-9, 230-pound senior noseguard, has proven to be very active upfront having recorded 25 tackles along with 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 5 quarterback pressures, and 1 forced fumble. Ware, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior, has 13 tackles with 4 pass break-ups, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
Junior inside linebacker Trent King ranks second with 41 tackles and 1 tackle for loss. Defensive end Chase Chesser has totaled 19 tackles with 3 tackles for losses, 1 sack, 1 quarterback hit, and 1 pass break-up. Three other seniors, safety Dermot Brown, senior outside linebacker Caleb Natividad, and outside linebacker Corey McDonald, have recorded 27, 20, and 20 tackles respectively.
Offensively, Dazet has healed adequately and is set to start versus Karr. A three-year starter, Dazet has completed 47 of 80 passes for 771 yards and 7 touchdowns while being intercepted 6 times.
Royal, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound sophomore, leads a talented quartet of receivers that includes juniors Rex LeBlanc, Brady Dumontier, and Rowan Lipscomb. Royal has caught 17 passes good for 456 yards (26.8 yards average) and 5 touchdowns while LeBlanc has 14 receptions good for 252 yards and 1 touchdown.
It is the running game where the Crusaders must accelerate the pace to meet their usual standards.
Brother Martin has rushed for 433 yards and 6 touchdowns on 161 attempts in five games behind a front line that starts two seniors and three sophomores with senior left tackle Caleb Smith representing the lone returning starter. Those numbers reflect alarming averages of 86.6 yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry.
“Right now, I don’t think there is anything pretty about us,’’ Bonis said. “We want to make games ugly. We want to create friction in the game. That’s kind of how I talk about it.
“Defensively, I think we’re doing some really good things. Offensively, we’re still playing like we’re young and we are. We have a total of three seniors (on offense), the quarterback, and two linemen and one of our linemen is a brand new starter (guard Bryce Lowenstein). So you have two veteran guys.
“So this year, the (rushing) numbers don’t look like it … but at times we did a good job in the run game. I thought we did a real well line-wise and running back-wise in controlling the tempo for a little bit of the (Rummel) game. Not the whole game. But I thought we did a better job of running the football. I don’t think we’ve done that very well this year, but a lot of that has to do with youth.’’
Regarding developing the offensive line on the fly, Bonis said, “It’s a headache now at times. But we’ve done this before where by the end of the season if you keep to the process and you buy into the process and we do, it’s about every day getting better. By the end of the season for the short term and long term future, it’s a great problem to have. You just have to get through the headaches and growing pains that we’ve been through to this point.’’
“Defensively, we’ve played very well, but I expected us to play very well with the guys we have back,’’ Bonis added. “In this league, in order for you to compete week in and week out, we talk about (playing) complimentary football. You have to play complementary football to have success in this league. I think last week (versus Rummel) was the best complimentary football game that we’ve played.’’
The Crusaders are confident that they’re up to the awaiting challenges.
“We talked after the Jesuit game about everybody buying in and coming together,’’ Malek said. “I know from our perspective on defense we really took it as we’ve got to shut (the opposing) team down and shut the rest of these teams down and just play all together. Get to the ball, make plays, bring it to (the opposition), and make them want to quit.
By the same token, Malek said, “No game in the Catholic League is going to be like we’re going to walk over this team. Each team is going to put up a fight and if you don’t play your best game, you may not even have a shot of walking off that field with a victory.’’
“At the beginning of the season, my expectations were to be 5-0 at this point of the season,’’ Weber, the Crusaders’ leading tackler, said. “But we took a step back losing to our rival (Jesuit). But this week (versus Rummel) we made a choice, a decision to play together, and we played an even better team and came out on top.
“It showed how much of a better team we can be and we are now. But we just have to continue it this week. We have a great opportunity this week, playing a great team in the state to show whether we were the team that played last week or the team that played the week before.
“It’s just about everybody here making the choice to play. If we play like we did last week, we have a great chance of coming out on top of that game. It’s just about playing together. Offense doing their job, defense doing their job, and coming together to play great football.’’