Bonis, Brother Martin weather storms for a winning week

A football coach lives for the weekend and the games that are played. That is the dynamic of the sport, unlike baseball or basketball, where multiple games are played weekly.

The days, weeks and weekends have been particularly challenging for Mark Bonis this season.

Friday night, the Brother Martin Crusaders overcame Bastrop 28-25 in a thriller at Tad Gormley Stadium.

[contentcards url=”https://crescentcitysports.mystagingwebsite.com/video-brother-martin-beats-bastrop-in-final-seconds-28-25/” target=”_blank”]

Drew Martin connected with Brady Faust on a nine-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left to give the Crusaders a thrilling win.

It was a night for the Faust family.

Sport Faust had a 55-yard interception return for a score while cousin Brady scored the winning touchdown. Quarterback Drew Martin connected with LJ Gilyot on a pair of touchdown passes. Martin finished 15-of-27 for 169 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

Bastrop dominated offensively, gaining 461 yards to just 237 for Brother Martin but the Crusaders came up with the big plays needed to win the game and hand the talented Rams their first loss. Quarterback Quaterius Hawkins was superb for Bastrop, as always. He accounted for 349 total yards combined (passing and rushing), connecting on four touchdown passes.

It was a good night for Bonis, who delighted in his team’s second straight win to improve to 4-2. It was the second straight year that Brother Martin won a close game over Bastrop. The Crusaders won 26-20 at Bastrop in 2017.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on WGSO, 990 AM Saturday morning, Bonis painted an accurate picture of his team and the win.

“It’s our best start since the 2014-15 season,” Bonis said. “It was an exciting game. Our boys, they battled, it wasn’t pretty. They had a saying of ‘find a way to win ugly’ and we won ugly. I was very proud of our kids for being resilient in the face of adversity. Sport does it all for us on defense, he punts and has played offense as well. He scored a defensive touchdown which was big. There’s not enough that you can say about Brady. He’s got the heart of a lion. He competes and competes. They were holding him and double covering him and he still caught seven passes for 75 yards and the winning score.”

Bonis assessed where his team is right now.

“It’s all about the process for us, especially with the playoffs set-up now,” Bonis said. “It’s very important to play a very tough schedule. We’re very young at spots on offense. We need more production out of our returning players offensively. We have a young offensive line and young backfield. Our defense is doing some great things. They are playing very hard. The biggest thing for us is to eliminate big plays. That’s been our Achilles heel. Special teams wise, we have been good throughout the course of the year. We have to mature as a team. We have to finish more drives.

The Crusaders return to District 9-5A play against Holy Cross next Friday night at Tad Gormley Stadium.

“Coach (Guy) Lecompte and his staff have done a good job,” Bonis said. “It’s going to be another battle. There’s no gimmes in this league. This league is a great, competitive league and that’s what makes the Catholic League and Friday night football or Saturday night football in this league special.”

Bonis and his family are counting the good days and nights, counting small and bigger blessings as son “Mighty” Marc Bonis underwent successful surgery as the infant continues to fight mightily and heartily for his existence.

In his fourth month of life, Marc has overcome significant odds and obstacles. Born with severe abnormalities, young Marc has his father’s name and competitive spirit. There are good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. Life is precious. So is Marc.

“It has been a roller coaster ride,” Bonis said. “We have great faith in God. We ask for prayers. He had the surgery and had a little setback but everything seems to be going well now. We appreciate all the community support. Just continued prayers, it’s great. The things that we preach to our kids ,our program principles, those are life’s lessons, those are the things we are trying to model and those are the things that are important to us.”

The Crusaders are learning life’s lessons from a good teacher while the youngest Crusader continues to embody the spirit necessary for long-time survival as father, son and mother (Rebecca) navigate the storms of life in exemplary fashion.