John Curtis takes control of Catholic League in football

It is one of the storied leagues, if not the most storied league in Louisiana Prep Football.

While its members have changed over six decades, the constants of Catholic schools in the New Orleans area Catholic League remain.

Over the last two decades, Archbishop Rummel has been the dominant team in the league, while St. Augustine has enjoyed good seasons, along with Jesuit winning a state title and Brother Martin being quite good. Going back to the mid 1980’s-2000, Archbishop Shaw was the dominant team. Holy Cross has enjoyed good teams.

Now, Catholic League supremacy is being taken over by the only non-Catholic League in the district.

John Curtis Christian has won 26 titles on the field and the Patriots have dominated in Classes 2A, 3A and 4A previously. Since moving up to compete in Division I in 2014, Curtis has not won a state title. Clearly, the Patriots are poised to make a serious run at changing that in 2017, with one major obstacle in their path.

That would be Evangel, the other school which has dominated in every class it has played in, including 1A, 2A, 3A, 5A and Division I.

The Eagles erased the Patriots 27-6 in the Division I semifinals a year ago en route to winning the Division I state title and Evangel is all that again this season. The Patriots and Eagles are poised to earn the top two seeds in the Division I playoffs this season and the competition for the top spot is very close.

Friday night, the Patriots continued their good work.

In a game featuring two teams apparently heading in different directions, Curtis prevailed in what turned out to be a shootout.

Going into the game, John Curtis Christian was red hot while Archbishop Rummel was ice cold. The Raiders showed up, competed hard and well but ultimately fell in a shootout.

When an opposing team scores 34 points on Curtis, a rarity, it typically produces a win. Not so on this night.

That is because the Patriots were virtually unstoppable in a 42-34 victory at The Shrine on Airline in a game seen live at CrescentCitySports.com and on Cox Sports Television. Curtis has now won seven straight games while Rummel has lost three in a row.

The victory clinched the outright Catholic League championship for a second consecutive year for the Patriots, who have won 12 straight District 9-5A contests.

While Rummel hurt Curtis in the passing game and in the kick return game, the Patriots came up with a pair of big plays defensively with interceptions of Chandler Fields by Cade Comeaux and Cade Beloso. Fields did throw three touchdown passes, completing 21-of-37 passes for 202 yards. Keirell Jackson rushed 23 times for 122 yards and two scores.

Offensively, Darryan Washington led a balanced offense, rushing 14 times for 132 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Collin Guggenheim was good again, completing 9-of-12 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown while rushing 10 times for 131 yards and two scores. The Patriots rushed for 300 yards. Glenn Beal had five catches for 94 yards and a score.

The Patriots were seemingly in control with a 35-14 lead but the Raiders fought back to pull within 35-27 and 42-34. Rummel got a stop and had one last shot on offense but the Patriots came up with a stop to clinch the win.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on WGSO, 990 AM Saturday morning, J.T. Curtis was not surprised that Rummel made it interesting, even tough.

“We knew they could come back,” Curtis said. “They are a very good team with a very good offense and they are a very good program. That is the key. A good program is accustomed to remaining poised and winning. We knew it would not be easy.”

Since joining the Catholic League, Curtis has jokingly referred to it as “The Christian League.”

“There’s no question that this is a very important district championship to win and I understand why it means so much to the schools in this league,” Curtis said. “It’s a shame that we’ve lost the importance with the power point system and the split. Now, we have to enter into a bigger picture in the state playoffs. You have to refocus quickly.”

Whether Curtis gets the first or second seed in the Division I playoffs is inconsequential.

“The goal is to get a top two seed,” Curtis said. “It was a change for the better in going to the higher seed being at home in the semifinals. You avoid the other highest seed until the championship game, if you get there. That is what you play the regular season for. It looks good for us to get a bye and get a home game in the semifinals, if we get that far. Of course, we likely will play a rematch team with someone in our league again, if not twice, and that is unfortunate.”

While the Sportswriters have had Curtis ranked ahead of Evangel all season long and while the Patriots topped the most recent power ratings, Evangel is still the team to beat.

“There is no question about that,” Curtis said. “They return a solid group back from last year with a very good defense. They are well coached. They are talented. They beat us last year. They have to be considered the favorite. We understand that. The ultimate goal is to play in the Superdome in December and win, regardless of the classification.”

Curtis (8-1, 5-0) ends its regular season against Archbishop Shaw next Saturday morning at The Shrine on Airline. The Raiders (5-3, 2-3) end their regular season Friday night against St. Augustine at The same location.