‘Truly a Blessing’: Country Day’s Grace explodes for state-record nine passing TDs
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
A year ago, Jack Grace was a first-year quarterback at Jesuit, dividing time between the freshman and junior varsity teams.
He transferred at mid-term to Country Day, which graduated its starting quarterback, Hudson Wright, who passed for 3,334 yards and a school-record 48 touchdowns.
Eight months later, Grace, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore, became the state’s leader in touchdown passes in a game with nine, finding five different receivers for scores during last Thursday’s 70-35 victory at The Willow School.
“It’s been awesome,” Grace said. “Everybody’s been texting and calling me and congratulating me. This has been truly a blessing.”
Grace, who completed 37 of 46 passes, threw for a school-record 568 yards and broke the state’s existing record of eight touchdown passes previously held by Evangel Christian’s Dez Duron in 2008 and Peyton ‘Pop’ Houston, also of Evangel, in 2024.
“It was one of those things where things fell into place,” said second-year Country Day head coach Ben Powell. “We were really clicking everywhere. Our receivers were making plays, and some guys made some clutch grabs to keep some drives alive.
“Jack just made some really good decisions all night long,” Powell said. “I’m really proud of him and the trajectory he’s kind of on.”
Country Day (1-1), which visits Sacred Heart-Ville Platte on Friday, had a 63-21 lead when the Cajuns got the ball back and enabled Grace to lead one final drive.
Grace connected with Colin Snyder with 3:15 left in the game, a 29-yard score that vaulted him to the top of the state’s record book.
“That didn’t even cross my mind,” Grace said of his record-setting performance. “One of the o-linemen, Jax (McMahon), started coming up to me and screaming that I got the record. I was a little confused, but after he said that, I had an idea of what it was.”
Grace spread the wealth, connecting with seven different receivers, five of which had at least five receptions.
Senior Kellen Brewer, a basketball commitment to Cal Santa Barbara, had four of Grace’s touchdowns, making eight catches for 129 yards. Alex Moore and Curtis McAllister each had eight grabs with 141 and 116 yards, respectively, with McAllister registering a pair of touchdown catches.
Snyder had five catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, and running back Justin Drago had five receptions for 71 yards. He also scored his team’s lone non-receiving TD on a 25-yard run for a 25-yard score.
Touchdowns were also recorded by Paul Mickens (2-20) and Preston Snyder (1-1).
“You have some matchup situations there that you felt good about,” Powell said. “You’re not thinking 9-10 touchdowns. That’s not really in your thought process.
“Jack did a great job of reading the defense and distributing the ball to everybody on the offense,” Powell said. “Every position was getting touches. That speaks about his preparation. When you have that many guys catching the ball, your quarterback is distributing the football.”
Because of the success of the school’s basketball, which resulted in a Division III select state championship, and a great number of athletes that played on the baseball team, Country Day’s offseason program has a limited number of participants.
The Cajuns, who operate an Air Raid system, place a great deal of emphasis on the summer and 7-on-7 competition.
“We don’t have a traditional offseason,” Powell said. “We invest heavily in 7-on-7. We went into the summer with a couple of guys (quarterback candidates), and Justin Drago got some reps. We went to several tournaments like at LSU and St. Thomas More, and we were hosting almost every week. We invested a lot in that process. He (Grace) solidified his spot as a starter and developed.”
Powell readily admits 7-on-7 doesn’t give you an actual portrayal of an offense, especially without any blitzing allowed, but even in helmets and shorts, the ability to develop timing and chemistry between quarterbacks and receivers can be invaluable.
“There’s still some pieces to the game to work on,” he said. “You’re going through reads. You see the arm strength. He really shined in that process.”
Grace fended off one battle during the spring to gain the upper hand in his bid to become the team’s starting quarterback. That pursuit continued into the summer, and with all of the 7-on-7 opportunities at his disposal, he emerged with the starting job going into fall camp.
“During the summer is when I started to take over the role as a starter,” he said. “We had a lot of success over the summer. That gives a lot of confidence going into the fall, and we just used that momentum.
“You learn chemistry in 7-on-7,” he said. “We went to school every weekend to learn the plays and build that chemistry. We’ve got a great group of receivers that want to get better.”
Grace said he was familiar with Country Day’s offense and offensive coordinator Ross Woods through social media. He knew Wright, who completed 215 of 331 passes, was putting up gaudy numbers with the Cajuns in 2025 and found out why.
“Even before I came here, I knew who they were and what they were about,” Grace said.
Country Day’s anticipated ramp-up to the season hit a snag when its previously scheduled fall scrimmage was cancelled.
That meant Grace had to wait another week until his first live varsity action in the team’s jamboree against Class 4A Archbishop Hannan.
“With a sophomore quarterback, you’re kind of missing that piece,” Powell said of game experience. “The scrimmage kind of fell through, and Hannan had a pretty good team with a bunch of seniors coming back. That’s kind of your first action, and there was some big growth that week.”
Grace, who began playing quarterback in the fourth grade and is long an admirer of Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, encountered his first taste of varsity football in Week 1.
The Cajuns hosted Class 4A South Terrebonne in a game with plenty of ebb and flow in the Gators’ 43-34 victory.
“I think he had a solid day in Week 1,” Powell said. “Most quarterbacks would say it’s a great day. He gave us a chance to win. We’re down two with a few minutes to go. We’re still in it. South Terrebonne gave us a great fight, and hats off to them.”
Grace was 15 of 30 for 300 yards and two touchdowns. The area that served as fuel for last week’s performance were three interceptions, which provided valuable learning lessons.
“That was rough because of the loss and because of the three interceptions,” Grace said. “That motivated me and our team to have a great week of practice to come out the way we did against Willow.”
Powell liked what he saw when Grace and his teammates showed up on Labor Day looking to make corrections from the previous game and preview what options would be available against Willow.
“We had a really good game plan,” he said. “You never want to lose a game. Jack and the whole team after South Terrebonne weren’t hanging their heads coming in on Labor Day. It was like, ‘Let’s get back to work. We know where he made some mistakes and what we need to fix.
“The kids came in with a great mindset,” he said. “They went to work, put on the film, corrected things that day, and were ready to get out to practice. They were flying around and having fun. Really upbeat.”
Country Day was inspired by more than a Week 1 defeat to a Class 4A team. The Cajuns also lost to Willow, 33-20, in last year’s matchup.
It didn’t take very long for Grace to get into a rhythm, throwing four touchdowns and leading Country Day to a 28-7 lead after the first quarter.
“I was really confident,” Grace said. “They ran a bunch of Cover-2, and that’s what we prepared for. I felt great. That’s just how our offense is supposed to run.”
Grace’s four TDs were to four different receivers in the opening quarter, one of which was set up by a defensive interception, and the Cajuns were well on their way to a big night.
“Willow’s a little young at corner, and we’ve got two really experienced guys out there, two great athletes,” Powell said of Brewer and McAllister, who are listed at 6-5 and 6-4, respectively. “We have two guys out there that could play Power Four football if they would like.”
Drago, a Class 2A All-State honorable mention choice in ’25, snapped Grace’s string of four straight touchdown passes with a touchdown run, and Brewer’s third scoring catch made it 49-21 at halftime.
Grace was well on his way to a memorable night, completing 24 of 29 passes for 386 yards and six scores.
“There was a sense of urgency that we needed to have,” Grace said of that week’s preparation. “I had to be a lot better, and I think we handled it really well.”
Brewer, who caught three TDs in the first half, brought in his fourth score in the third quarter, and with Willow showing some fight, scoring and recovering onside kicks, Powell left his first-team offense on the field.
Grace continued work on his record-setting night with touchdown passes to Mickens, a fourth score to Brewer to increase the team’s lead to 63-25.
“We used that as kind of motivation,” Grace said. “Them wanting to keep on playing, and thinking they could hang with us, that was motivation to keep on airing it out.”
Grace also benefitted from an offensive line that kept him clean. That’s an area of strength this season where James Gottsche, Joel Gochaux, Charles Smith and William Johnson all returned with two to three years of experience, Powell said.
“Those guys are great,” Grace said. “They work hard all summer and fall. For them to go out and play like that, it’s awesome.”
There was no discussion on the team’s sideline when Grace went back onto the field in the fourth quarter for what proved to be the decisive touchdown.
“You kind of know what the number is,” Powell said. “Hudson had some games near it last year. It’s kind of in the back of your mind. We were still playing because. We subbed, and they scored, onside kick, and they scored again.
“We’re still playing the game,” Powell said. “They’re still trying to score. I wasn’t thinking about records at that point. I was just thinking about keeping pace, keeping the game under control.”
Grace, who believes three touchdown passes in a game was his previous best, moved the offense to Willow’s 29-yard line when he and Colin Snyder were on both sides of the historic pass.
The 29-yard score broke the state’s record to account for the Cajuns’ 70th point and put Grace in a class all by himself.
“Coach Ross said, ‘Hey, that’s nine,’” Powell said.
Country Day celebrated, but Powell reminded his team of the areas that required improvement to become the team they desire.
“To be more perfect, there are still a lot of things to clean up, and we have a good opponent coming up,” Grace said of Powell’s postgame message.
Because of Country Day’s quarterback-centric history, Grace’s on a path to being one of the best the school’s produced.
Grace’s 568 yards against Willow was a single-game record for the school, and his two-game totals – 52 of 77 (68%) for 876 yards and 11 TDs – have him on a pace in the regular season to surpass John White’s school-record 3,463 yards set in 1984.
“My job is to get the ball to all of the receivers if they’re open,” he said. “If they’re open, they’re ready for the ball. I had never thrown for that many touchdowns in a game before. It’s awesome.”