Jesuit uses strong second half to take down St. Augustine, 37-21

NEW ORLEANS – Halfway through Saturday evening’s matchup between Jesuit and St. Augustine at Tad Gormley Stadium, it was anyone’s game and it looked like things were heading for a defensive test.four

Boy, what a difference a half makes.

The Blue Jays used a 21-point third quarter to pull away for a 37-21 victory over the Purple Knights

Jesuit was led by the arm and legs of quarterback Grant Jordan, who was responsible for four total touchdowns on the evening.

Jordan finished with two touchdown passes, one to Jack Larriviere and one to Luke Laforge, while rushing for two more scores. The senior finished 11 of 15 passing for 172 yards and added 47 yards rushing.

The first-year starter was humble after the game.

“It doesn’t really mean anything to me,” he said. “I can’t get those touchdowns without my linemen and my receivers making plays. I didn’t even know I had (four touchdowns). I was just playing the game and putting points on the board for my team.”

Jesuit put 151 yards of rushing offense while the defense held the vaunted St. Aug rushing attack to just 13 yards while UL Lafayette commitment Sonny Hazard added a late interception return for a touchdown to put the game fully out of reach in the fourth quarter.

“I told (the team) we had to start making a difference in how we come out of breaks,” said Jesuit coach Mark Songy. “I was very pleased with (how we came out at half). That’s been a sore spot for us all season. It looks like we found a way to come out and take care of business to start the half.”

St. Augustine (3-3, 0-3) finished a tumultuous week with another sour note. After dismissing head coach Nathaniel Jones on Tuesday following the surfacing of a controversial social media video, the team promoted defensive coordinator Kenneth Dorsey to head coach. Dorsey had four days to prepare his team to take on a district rival following the cloud of uncertainty and varying opinions on the dismissal of Jones.

“I think we just need to find out who we are,” said Dorsey. “I think our kids overcame adversity this week. We just have to keep on working. We have Helen Cox this week and our focus will shift as we find out what our mistakes were and move forward.”

Purple Knights quarterback Kendall Sampston Jr. completed 17 of 21 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns, though nearly half of those yards came late in the fourth quarter when the game had already been decided. Two of Sampson’s touchdown passes went to Josh White while the other went to Jaheim Waters.

Jesuit first scored on a 30-yard field goal from Aiden Corbello.

While the Purple Knights travel to the West Bank to take on Helen Cox in a non-district game next week, Jesuit will face undefeated John Curtis, who have won 21 straight Catholic League matchups.