Holy Cross shuts down St. Aug for big Catholic League win, 17-6

NEW ORLEANS – Going into Thursday night’s District 9-5A contest between Holy Cross and St. Augustine, it appeared that the Purple Knights had the edge. They had two weeks to prepare while the Tigers were on a short week and on a two-game losing streak.

Ignoring the obvious, the Tigers rebounded with a solid effort in an impressive 17-6 victory over St. Augustine at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Senior running back Landen Bates once again made the case that he is the top running back in the Catholic League. The senior led the way, rushing 23 times for 143 yards and a touchdown while the Holy Cross defense forced three turnovers, had two sacks and shutout the St. Augustine offense in the second half, much to the delight of Holy Cross head coach Eric Rebaudo.

“Landen is a guy that has been patient and waited his time,” Rebaudo said. “He’s been bumped up the last few weeks. He never pouted. He just worked hard to get back on the field. We’re a different team when he’s in there. You could see it tonight.”

Rebaudo was extremely pleased with the effort put forth by his players.

“St. Aug is a very good football team but our guys played hard,” Rebaudo said. “All credit to our coaches. They had a great plan and the kids went out and executed. Our kids have handled quite a bit of adversity and I am proud of them. We try to work on forcing turnovers and we have come up with seven in two weeks. Anytime you force turnovers, you have a chance to win.”

After a scoreless first quarter, St. Augustine jumped on top early in the second quarter, driving 67 yards in five plays with Texas Tech commitment Garland LaFrance scoring on a 48-yard run. The extra point was muffed and the Purple Knights led 6-0 with 9:46 to play in the half.

The Tigers pulled close, driving 50 yards in 10 plays with Nolan Heitmeier booting a 30-yard field goal to make it 6-3 with 3:32 to play in the half.

Holy Cross (5-4, 4-2) then took advantage of a fumble by St. Augustine quarterback Josh White which Josh Gillard recovered and returned to the Purple Knight 29-yard line. It took the Tigers three plays to go 29 yards with Jaden Moran connecting with Harvard commit Kym Wimberly on an 18-yard touchdown pass to give Holy Cross a 10-6 lead at halftime. Wimberly finished with six catches for 84 yards and the touchdown. Moran completed 10-of-16 passes for 113 yards and a score with an interception.

The second half belonged to Holy Cross as its defense shut down St. Augustine while the Tiger offense was efficient. Bates raced 34 yards for a score to make it 17-6 with 9:07 to play in the third quarter.

The Holy Cross defense made it stand up the rest of the way.

White did not start at quarterback but replaced Michael Mims in the second quarter. White completed 12-of-15 passes for 105 yards and rushed 21 times for 95 yards while LaFrance carried 12 times for 79 yards and a score. Jamaal Jolla had three catches for 48 yards.

“We did not play well tonight,” St. Augustine head coach Al Jones said. “We simply did not get it going on offense. We have to play better. We are a better team than we showed tonight and we will rebound from this.”

Both teams were a bit sloppy with St. Augustine penalized 13 times for 81 yards while Holy Cross was penalized 10 times for 86 yards.

“I’ve seen teams play well off a bye and teams struggle off of a bye,” Rebaudo said. “There’s something to be said about playing week to week. We got past the loss to Curtis quickly and got focused. We have to turn our attention to Live Oak now and prepare for the playoffs as well.”

St. Augustine entered play sixth in the LHSAA power ratings while Holy Cross was 10th. Thursday’s result unofficially moved the Knights down one spot and the Tigers up one notch in the ratings.

“This was important for us in our quest to rise in the rankings and to get a home game in the first round,” Rebaudo said. “That is the immediate goal.”

Holy Cross finishes its regular season on the road at Live Oak next Friday night while St. Augustine (5-3, 3-2) will take on Archbishop Rummel at The Shrine on Airline next Friday night.

Final
HC 0 10 7 0 — 17
SA 0 6 0 0 — 6

Scoring
2nd Qtr.
SA—Garland LaFrance, 48 yard run (pt. failed) 6-0 SA @ 9:46-2nd
HC—Nolan Heitmeier, 30 yard field goal 6-3 SA @ 3:32-2nd
HC—Kym Wimberly, 18 yard pass from Jaden Moran (Nolan Heitmeier kick) 10-7 HC @ :13-2nd

3rd Qtr.
HC—Landen Bates, 34 yard run (Nolan Heitmeier kick) 17-6 HC @9:07-3rd

Statistics
First Downs
Holy Cross 13, St. Augustine 12

Rushing Yards
Holy Cross 135, St. Augustine 169

Passing Yards
Holy Cross 113, St. Augustine 115

Total Yards
Holy Cross 248, St. Augustine 284

Penalties
Holy Cross 10 for 86 yards, St. Augustine 13 for 81 yards

Sacks
Holy Cross 2, St. Augustine 2

Turnovers
Holy Cross 1, St. Augustine 3

Louisiana Prep Football Schedule for Thursday, Oct. 26

Thursday, Oct. 26

New Orleans Area

John Ehret 50, Grace King 6
Riverdale 38, KIPP Renaissance 14
Holy Cross 17, St. Augustine 6
Landry-Walker 44, West Jefferson 15

Around the state:

Sam Houston 2, Lafayette 0, forfeit
Acadiana 2, LaGrange 0, forfeit
Airline 36, Byrd 20
North DeSoto 38, Huntington 14
Northwood 48, B.T. Washington 6
Winnfield 35, Lakeview 26
Many 28, Red River 6
St. Mary’s 56, Northwood-Lena 6
ASH 56, Pineville 21
Avoyelles 30, Bolton 7
Basile 16, Grand Lake 14
Breaux Bridge 27, Opelousas 7
Central Catholic 46, Centerville 15
Eunice 14, Northwest 7
General Trass 22, Beekman Charter 14
Jeanerette 44, Delcambre 0
Jena 29, Caldwell Parish 26
Kaplan 31, North Vermilion 7
Kinder 46, Lake Arthur 14
Leesville 42, Tioga 13
Live Oak 24, Walker 21
Merryville 36, Elton 32
Neville 51, Franklin Parish 14
Northeast 41, The Church Academy 0
Notre Dame 48, Welsh 7
Oakdale 29, Pickering 21
Oberlin 40, South Cameron 7
Ouachita Christian 26, St. Frederick 16
Rayne 28, Westgate 14
Rosepine 23, DeQuincy 6
Sacred Heart-VP 32, Hanson 7
St. Louis 28, Westlake 23
St. Martinville 52, Beau Chene 31
St. Thomas More 53, Carencro 17
Southern Lab 64, White Castle 0
Teurlings Catholic 42, Northside 13
Vandebilt Catholic 51, Morgan City 13
Vinton 48, East Beauregard 30
Washington-Marion 50, Lake Charles Prep 0
West Monroe 14, Ouachita 13
West St. Mary 32, Loreauville 20
Wossman 8, Carroll 7