John Curtis continues surge with comeback win over St. Augustine

It has been since 2018 for John Curtis Christian. For most programs, a brief three-year span since winning a state championship is a welcomed occurence. For the Patriots, it is an unusual set of circumstances.

Curtis last won a Division I state championship in 2018. It is not like the program has suddenly gotten bad or lost its mojo. The Patriots have remained a winning team since then, just not at the highest level.

While John Curtis lost to defending Class 5A state champion Zachary on the road (40-21) earlier this season, the Patriots have steadily improved over the course of the year. That improvement, against a very challenging schedule, showed up in a 35-14 win at Acadiana.

Then, on the ropes Saturday against a big, fast, deep and talented St. Augustine team that previously won 24-20 at Zachary, the Pats’ improvement showed up again.

John Curtis rallied from a two-score deficit to overcome the Purple Knights 28-21 at Joe Yenni Stadium in a key District 9-5A battle.

Tyler Hayes capped a furious comeback with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown of a Amare Cooper on a tipped ball by Austin Ackel with 3:45 to play in the game.

“He read the play beautifully,” Patriots coach J.T. Curtis said. “We had a nice call by the secondary coach. He made a great read, broke in front of the ball and got it in the end zone.”

The Patriots were their own worst enemy, committing four turnovers and falling behind 14-0 and 21-7.

“It was uncharacteristic of us, turning the ball over, including three times in that first quarter,” Curtis said. “Part of that is they were hitting hard, they were making plays. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the football. I was proud of how we continued to compete.”

Curtis then rallied as Marlon Prout scored on a 23-yard screen pass from Dagan Bruno to cut the deficit to 21-14 by the end of the third quarter before Prout scored on a 12-yard run, up the middle, in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 4:25 to play, setting the stage for the heroics of Hayes.

The second touchdown by Prout was set up by a botched fake punt by St. Augustine which failed and gave John Curtis a short field.

St. Augustine drove to the John Curtis 8-yard line in the final minute in search of a tie.

Cooper scrambled on a first down play to the Curtis 8-yard line. Then, Cooper spiked the ball to stop the clock. Consecutive incomplete passes on third and fourth down sealed a huge win for Curtis.

Bruno threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Patriots, including a 33-yard score to Tyler Mitchell which cut the St. Aug lead to 14-7 with 9:20 to play in the first half.

Cooper tossed a pair of touchdown passes for the Purple Knights, one Karaaz Johnson of five yards and a second to Josh Jackson for 17 yards.

Moses Gray scored on a 16-yard run for St. Aug.

“It’s the way it is every week in this league,” Curtis said. “We’ve got Brother Martin next week and it’s going to be the same kind of game. Every time you walk out on the field, it’s going to be that way. Every week, you have to bring your ‘A’ game or you are going to find yourself on the short end of it.”

Both teams will next face Brother Martin, with the Patriots (7-1, 4-0) taking on the Crusaders this Friday night while the Purple Knights (6-2, 3-2) enjoying a week off before taking on the Crusaders in a week 10 matchup.

Still to come is a week 10 matchup between John Curtis and Karr.

The Cougars are unquestionably the most impressive, best team in the state, to this point of the season and the clear team to beat in the Division I select bracket, despite three forfeit defeats after big wins on the field earlier this season.

John Curtis appears to be a worthy challenger to Karr, perhaps the most worthy in both District 9-5A and in the playoffs.