John Curtis rises in national high school football rankings

You cannot ignore excellence.

A national power in football for decades, John Curtis Christian remains prominent on the national scene in 2019.

The unbeaten (2-0) Patriots are now ranked No. 12 in the latest USA Today Super 25 rankings while the Patriots are No. 42 in the new MaxPreps rankings.

Curtis won the mythical national championship in 2012.

Curtis has beaten a pair of elite programs, outlasting three-time defending Louisiana 4A state champion Karr 42-39 to end the Cougars’ 27-game win streak before the Patriots drummed Westlake High of Georgia 55-27 at The Battle on the Border at Independence Stadium in Shreveport this past Saturday.

Catholic High of Baton Rouge, which lost to John Curtis in the Division I state title game in 2018 after beating the Patriots in the 2017 championship game, is No. 126 in the MaxPreps rankings. West Monroe checks in at No. 166 and Warren Easton is at No. 245. St. Thomas More is No. 267, Archbishop Rummel is at No. 283 and Karr checks in at No. 284. Neville is No. 289 and Brother Martin is No. 300.

Mater Dei of Santa Ana, CA tops both the USA Today Super 25 and MaxPreps rankings with St. Frances Academy of Baltimore, MD second and St. John Bosco third. IMG Academy of Bradenton, FL is fourth with Duncanville, TX fifth in MaxPreps.

St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, FL is second in the USA Today Super 25 with St. John Bosco third, Duncanville fourth and IMG Academy fifth.

J.T. Curtis, who has guided John Curtis to 26 state championships (27 on the field), likes what he has seen from his 2019 team, to this point.

“We’re very happy with where we are right now,” Curtis said. “We’re playing well and we’ve have a couple of key guys out on defense who should return. Young guys have gotten a lot of experience against good teams. That will help us down the road depth-wise.”

Curtis is particularly pleased with one aspect of his squad.

“I think we’ve been really consistent offensively and we should be,” Curtis said. “It is a good group that has played together for a long time. Our tackles have started since they were our sophomores. Our center is a returning starter. Obviously, we have a four-year starter at quarterback and a very good running back.”

Senior speedster Corey Wren has been lightning for the Patriots.

In two games, the Georgia commit has rushed 26 times for 346 yards and four touchdowns. Wren also has two receptions for 56 yards and a score.

“Corey can score anytime he touches the ball,” Curtis said. “He became a football player last year who ran track, not just a track guy who played football. It takes time to develop. He’s just continued to improve as time has gone on. He gets a crease, he’s very difficult to catch.”

As a program accustomed to local, statewide and national attention, the Patriots are handling the rankings business in stride.

“I don’t say anything about national rankings to our players,” Curtis said. “They know what our goal is. That is to play in December and win a state championship after competing in a tough district. One thing will take care of the other. National rankings are for the media and fans. It has nothing to do with how we perform. We will simply focus on being consistent and worry about that at the end of the year.”

The Patriots return to action Friday night at Behrman Stadium against Landry-Walker.