John Curtis seniors seek to keep title tradition going

It is like clockwork.

If you go to John Curtis Christian and play football, you are guaranteed a state football championship, if not multiple championships in your high school years from your freshman to senior seasons.

The Patriots have won 26 state championships on the field since 1975 under Hall of Fame coach J.T. Curtis.

The largest gap of time between state football championships during the last 42 seasons is three years, which happened twice from 1993-96 and from 2008-11.

The last state championship for the Patriots was in 2013 and that title was subsequently taken away by the LHSAA, which Curtis has appealed and battled legally.

Whether it is four or five years down the road, this is the longest drought for the program since the first title since 1975.

As a result, the seniors at Curtis have not been part of a state title and those players are hungry, to say the least.

The second-seeded Patriots are on a mission to end the drought, in the Division I semifinals Friday night at 7 p.m. against third-seed Scotlandville at The Shrine on Airline.

Scotlandville (10-1) advanced with a thrilling 35-33 win over sixth-seed Brother Martin last Friday night when blue chip defensive back Kelvin Joseph returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown with just under a minute to play to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Cameron Armstead threw four touchdown passes, including a pair to Joseph, who starred in all three phases of the game. Running back Trenton Charles also had a 76-yard touchdown catch while Jarian Green caught a 34-yard touchdown pass. Jalen Womack is another fine receiver and Shedrick Smith is a dangerous runner as well for the Hornets.

Scotlandville has beaten Brother Martin by two points in two consecutive seasons in the semifinals. By comparison, the Patriots blanked the Crusaders 34-0 on Sept. 22/

Curtis (10-1) advanced with a 35-21 win over seventh-seed St. Paul’s last Friday night in a hard fought game.

The Patriots (10-1) have not lost in-state, falling only to national power Grayson, GA in The Battle on The Border.

Defensive back Brandon Davis is one of those seniors who was part of losing 27-6 at home in Metairie to eventual state champion Evangel in the semifinals a year ago. Davis has 25 tackles and a team best five interceptions.

“It has just been in the back of our minds all day, all the time,” Davis said. “We just kind of keep it right there and come after it and get. We can’t let the opportunity to play at home slip away again. That’s not even a thought right now. I can only see myself in the ‘Dome.”

Davis was an integral part of a state championship team in baseball for Curtis last season. He desperately wants to add a football title to his resume.

“We really can’t take Scotlandville as just any other team,” Davis said. “We really have to keep on playing like we’ve been playing. We are really clicking together and have a good thing going and we want to just keep it going. We’re going after it. We’re coming after what we want.”

Senior running back Darryan Washington is another of the hungry seniors.

“This is the only one we are thinking about right now,” Washington said. “Scotlandville is a very talented football team, it’s going to be a very good game. It’s going to be a battle. We’ve just got to keep fighting and grinding. We’ve got to get there (to the Dome) first and not look ahead to a possible rematch with Evangel. That’s all we’re worried about. We wouldn’t mind seeing them again, not at all.”

Washington and his fellow seniors are reminded every day about having not won a state championship.

“We have a big picture in our weight room,” Washington said. “Every day we look at it, our senior class thinks about it and we don’t want to be that first class to come through and not get a ring.”

Washington and Malik Wells have filled the void left by a season ending injury to Marquese Albert early in the season. Washington has 130 carries for 768 yards and 11 touchdowns while Wells, also a senior, has 70 rushes for 616 yards and two scores.

“It’s worked out very well,” Washington said. “The support that Marquese gives is tremendous. He helps us out all the time. He keeps us going. Stepping up was easy. He just helped us.”

Sophomore quarterback Collin Guggenheim has completed 56-of-105 passes for 951 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Guggenheim is the leading rusher with 92 carries for 793 yards and 16 touchdowns. Senior Tyrone Legette is the top receiver with 24 receptions for 476 yards and five touchdowns. Blue-chip tight end Glenn Beal has 14 receptions for 259 yards and two scores.

Head coach J.T. Curtis is happy to be at home again in the semifinals.

“It is fun to be home, you don’t have to go on the road, you can handle the off time on a positive way,” Curtis said. “There’s no question that there’s motivation for our senior class about not having won one. They want an opportunity to get in the ‘Dome and compete. That’s our goal at the start of each season. They want to compete for a state championship.”

Curtis is impressed with one asset of Scotlandville.

“Skill, speed, speed,” Curtis said. “Anytime you play a team like them, any given play can be a touchdown. We’ve got to do a really good job in our secondary to stay in our coverage. The quarterback is an excellent scrambler and an adequate thrower. We’ve got to a good job to keep him contained. Tackling will be a huge part of this game.

The staple of the 2017 Patriots has been consistency.

“We’ve played consistently offensively and our defense has played good against teams who have good players,” Curtis said. “We’ve faced some of the better skill people in the state and hold up against Warren Easton and against Rummel when they had their receivers in a position to play. We’ve played against good people and we have been consistent.”

While many anticipate a superpower matchup of John Curtis and Evangel in the state title game again for the first time since 2012, both schools have business to take care of which will not be easy.

“It’s one step at a time, truly one step at a time,” Curtis said. “Scotlandville was there in the ‘Dome last year and they want to get back there. It will be a battle of wills and discipline on Friday night.”