From Setbacks to Success: John Curtis Outlasts Brother Martin in First Round
by: Mike Strom // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
NEW ORLEANS — The past is the past.
Particularly once the postseason arrives.
This was the message Coach J.T. Curtis delivered to his football team immediately after the once state-ranked Patriots had lost their final three regular-season outings prior to kickoff of the Division I Select state playoffs.
Consider the message received.
Unranked John Curtis shook free of those negative vibes in time to seize control of its destiny and record a 21-13 bi-district playoff victory against fellow District 9-5A Catholic League rival Brother Martin Friday afternoon at City Park’s Tad Gormley Stadium.
Quarterback Reggie Johnson accounted for two of Curtis’ three touchdowns with his running and passing while directing three impressive first-half scoring drives of 77, 55, and 80 yards to help the Patriots reconnect with their football machismo.
The Patriot’s defense, meanwhile, bent but refused to break while pressuring Brother Martin throughout and forcing the Crusaders to turn the ball over on downs four times. Curtis safety Xavier Brown recovered the game’s most critical turnover, a Brother Martin fumble at the Curtis 1-yard line five minutes into the fourth period, that preserved the final margin of victory.
John Curtis (5-5 overall) advances to face No. 3 seed Acadiana in next week’s regional round after entering the playoffs as an uncharacteristically low No. 19 seed. The Patriots lost their final three games of the regular season to St. Augustine, Karr, and Jesuit to drop out of the Class 5A state rankings and finish in a two-way tie with Brother Martin for fifth place in District 9-5A.
“We told (the players) immediately after the (St. Augustine) game last week that everything from the past is over,’’ Curtis said. “Everybody is zero and zero. No scores make any difference. No seeding makes any difference. Everybody’s on equal footing. So, now, let’s see how we’re going to step up to equate to that so that we can continue to make the progress that we need to make.’’
Curtis’ last victory actually had come against Brother Martin, 17-14, four weeks ago when the Patriots were ranked No. 5 in Class 5A by geauxpreps.com and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association state poll. The ensuing three defeats dropped Curtis into a tie with Brother Martin for fifth place in District 9-5A.
“The plan was just to come out fiery and have fun,’’ Johnson said. “We definitely have not been having fun these past four weeks, taking some of those losses. As a group, as an offensive skill group, we all just planned to come out and have fun and see where that takes us.’’
It took the Patriots to their fifth consecutive victory against the Crusaders whose last win against Curtis was a 41-12 decision in 2021. Included among those Curtis victories was a 23-0 decision against the Crusaders in the 2022 Division I state championship final.
“I think we came out with a whole lot more energy than them,’’ Brown said. “We were thinking put them away after the first score. We were thinking just win, win, win and don’t stop putting the foot on the pedal.’’
Brother Martin (6-5) refused to roll over, however, showing the determination that helped the Crusaders regroup and regain some momentum this season by winning its final two Catholic League contests versus Holy Cross and Warren Easton. Those victories snapped Brother Martin’s own three-game losing streak at the time.
The Crusaders then entered the playoffs as the No. 14 seed but exited the postseason for a second consecutive time without winning.
“It was a play here or there,’’ Brother Martin coach Mark Bonis said. “That’s kind of the if and buts game. If this would have happened, that would have happened. It didn’t. We didn’t capitalize when we needed to. … Unfortunately, it came down to a couple of plays here or there. They made the plays and obviously, we didn’t.’’
John Curtis erupted offensively in the first half as Johnson directed three touchdown drives covering 77, 55, and 80 yards to stake the Patriots to a 21-7 advantage at intermission.
Running back Jack Corcoran ran 5 yards around the left side to cap Curtis’ first scoring possession, which came on the Patriots’ second drive of the opening half. Lucas Kippers followed with the first of three successful PAT kicks good for a 7-0 lead.
It then took Curtis two more possessions to add its second touchdown, a 29-yard scoring pass from Johnson to running back Jacobi Boudreaux to culminate a 6-play, 55-yard march that opened with five runs and faced no third downs.
After Brother Martin scored, Johnson then guided the Patriots on their most impressive drive, 10 plays covering 80 yards, that the Curtis quarterback ended with an 11-yard touchdown dash around the right end just inside the pylon. The Patriots twice converted third downs on the drive in addition to Johnson completing a 36-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Jarvis Stevenson two plays before the touchdown run.
Running back, Julian Cutter ran 17 yards for Brother Martin’s first and only touchdown of the first half, which culminated in a 6-play, 73-yard possession directed by quarterback Seth Dazet.
The Crusaders put together another impressive possession seven minutes into the third period when Dazet drove the offense 75 yards in 11 plays to score on a 25-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Rex LeBlanc. But the ensuing PAT failed when a fumbled snap prevented Grayson Smith from attempting a second straight successful kick to leave the score at 21-13 in Curtis’ favor.
Brother Martin had three final possessions that proved unsuccessful with Brown thwarting the first with his fumble recovery at the Curtis’ 1-yard line to spoil an 8-play, 53-yard drive by the Crusaders.
The Crusaders turned the ball over on downs at their own 38-yard line on their next possession after four plays produced 3 yards with 2 minutes, and 54 seconds remaining.
Brother Martin’s last gasp came in the final 1:59 after Curtis punter Lane LeCron’s 32-yard punt was downed at the Crusaders’ 10-yard line. The Crusaders managed one first down and needed four plays to do so before then stalling at their own 27-yard line following a fourth-down incompletion with 8 seconds remaining.
“This is what I told our guys,’’ Brother Martin’s Bonis said. “One of our founding fathers, Father Andre Coindre (founder of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart), is quoted up on the (Brother Martin) school building (saying), ‘When you’ve done all you can, you’ve done all you must.’
“At the end of the day, I’m disappointed for our guys, I’m disappointed for our seniors for it to end. But the way that they’ve battled, the way they’ve worked, the way my coaches have worked through the course of the season, I’m reallyproud of them. There’s nothing for them to hang their head about.’’
Johnson accounted for 179 of Curtis’ 369 yards with his passing and running. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior completed 7 of 11 passes for 142 yards without being intercepted in addition to rushing 10 times for 37 of the Patriots’ 227 rushing yards.
Curtis running backs A.J. Smith and Nate Alario rushed for 79 and 70 yards respectively via 10 and 12 carries whileBoudreaux had two receptions good for 66 yards and a touchdown, Stevenson had two catches good for 40 yards and Xavier Brown had three catches good for 36 yards.
“I thought our defense played big at times,’’ Curtis said. “Our offense played well, but we turned it over again in key times. Which we can’t do. So I thought our offense played really well at times and we shot ourselves in the foot with some turnovers. We’ve got to eliminate that so we can stay consistent.
“When we stayed ahead of the chains, we played really well. I thought our backs ran hard. I thought Reggie made some nice plays on the sprint outs. We’ve got to continue to improve if we’re going to have the opportunity to win in the future.’’
Dazet accounted for 188 of Brother Martin’s 291 yards with his passing and running. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior completed 13 of 23 passes for 160 yards without being intercepted with the touchdown to LeBlanc in addition tonetting 28 rushing yards on 12 carries.
LeBlanc and fellow wide receivers Brodie Dumontier and Easton Royal each had a team-leading four receptions with LeBlanc gaining 60 yards, Dumontier getting 55, and Royal 41respectively. Running backs Jeremiah Burton and Cutter ran for 39 and 31 of Brother Martin’s 131 rushing yards respectively via 8 and 6 carries.
Brother Martin’s defense limited Curtis to 91 second-half yards and four first downs after surrendering 278 yards and 14 firsts in the opening two periods.
“You come in here and you play a Catholic League team, it’s a gauntlet every time we play in the Catholic League,’’ Bonis said. “The way things worked out, we had to play another Catholic League opponent in the first round. It didn’t feel like a first-round test (but rather tougher). But it was a battle.
“We wanted to take it into the fourth quarter and try to finish like we do. That’s part of our mantra. We just didn’t get it done tonight. But our kids and our coaches shouldn’t hang their heads at all. I’ve got a great coaching staff. I’m very proud of them over the years for everything they’ve done. Bar none, they’re a wonderful group of men.
“I’m happy about our young men for the way they’ve grown. In the middle of the year, I was saying that I’ve got some seniors that really need to grow up. They’ve really bought in and doubled down. The business end is growing these young men into men and watching them mature during the course of the season, I couldn’t be more proud of them.’’
“It’s always tough losing your seniors,’’ Bonis added. “Most of them when they’re done playing here, they’re done playing football. You just hope that you can prolong it for as long as possible. But, unfortunately, we got knocked out in the first round, so we weren’t able to go very long for them. I just wish we could have.’’
Curtis now advances to face Acadiana, a program it defeated, 28-0, 13 months ago in Week 7 of the 2023 regular season.
“We are making progress and I felt like if we got into the playoffs that we would continue to play well,’’ Curtis said. “Now, we’ve got a tough draw. We’re going to play one of the best teams in the state (Acadiana) next week. But that’s better than not having the opportunity to play.’’
Because the past is the past.
JOHN CURTIS 21, BROTHER MARTIN 13
John Curtis 7 14 0 0 — 21
Brother Martin 0 7 6 0 — 13
JC BM
First downs 18 12
Rushing 227 131
Passing 142 160
Total offense 369 291
Passes 7-11-0 13-23-0
Punts 2-32.3 2-32.5
Fumbles/lost 2-2 2-1
Penalties 6-60 4-40
SCORING:
JC: Jack Corcoran 5 run (Lucas Kippers kick).
JC: Jacobi Boudreaux 29 pass from Reggie Johnson (Lucas Kippers kick).
BM: Julian Cutter 17 run (Grayson Smith kick).
JC: Reggie Johnson 11 run (Lucas Kippers kick).
BM: Rex LeBlanc 25 pass from Seth Dazet (Run failed).