Isidore Newman coach Aaron Vice knew well the challenges rival Country Day and its explosive offense presented, including its ability to quickly erase deficits.
So perhaps no one uptown was less surprised to see the Cajuns (5-4, 3-1) continue to battle and eat into a 24-points halftime margin than Vice, who bark to his players retaking the field after the break to treat the game as though it was still scoreless.
The Greenies (8-0, 3-0) weathered the ebbs and flows and ultimately shut down the rally with a pair of particularly fitting plays — a stuffed fourth-down run by junior linebacker A.J. Yunusah and pop-pass from sophomore quarterback Jaylen Hunter to senior Alex Roth for a 74-yard touchdown — as two critical daggers to help seal the 45-35 victory.
“We had this great little run, and at halftime the warning was: Don’t get complacent. Don’t take your foot off the gas. Because any team that can throw the ball like that is dangerous. And they showed it,” Vice said. “I think we hurt ourselves more than they hurt us, but that can be the best learning lesson we’ve ever had, too, that you’ve gotta control what you can control and all that. So I’m extremely proud of us.”
A string of defensive stops and well-timed and -executed offensive plays had been much of the recipe of Isidore Newman swinging a 7-0 deficit into the first quarter into a 31-7 advantage at the midway mark.
The teams went back and forth early with a stop each and then a score: a 30-yard connection from sophomore quarterback Jack Grace to junior receiver Preston Snyder for the Cajuns, and then a 10-yard run by sophomore back Jayce Irving, who had kept the Greenies’ drive alive with an earlier fourth-down conversion.
But Newman shut out Country Day the rest of the half, beginning with back-to-back fourth-down stands and then an interception by senior Ben Singer for the game’s lone takeaway.
And the Greenies kept turning every resulting opportunity into more points to take control.
Newman dialed up a hook-and-lateral on first play of the second quarter from Hunter to senior Ren Guidry to junior Tanner Robert, dashing 68 yards up the sideline for his team’s first lead.
“The hook-and-ladder we stole from U-High, so shout out to them,” smiled Vice, who was the Cubs’ offensive coordinator before landing his first lead job last year. “The pop-pass is something we’ve done at other places. It’s kind of my system, but coach Kenny Sears came over from St. Paul’s. He’s calling it. It’s kind of I’m involved, but he calls it. I think I recommended something today, and we got stuffed. So he made the big calls. That’s on him. Great job. Coach Doug Lichtenberger’s our D.C., great job. They got us a little late. But we beared down there in the red zone some, so I’m very proud of us. Thought we tackled well.”
Just two minutes later, Guidry hit fellow senior Hendrix Hill for a quick screen sprung into a 90-yard race to the end zone.
A 9-yard pass from Hunter to Yunusah continued to snowball momentum, and senior Atticus LaFleur added a 27-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half.
“It’s always about blocking and tackling. It’s always what happens up front,” Country Day coach Ben Powell said. “Early in the game, they were a little more physical. They executed better up front. We had some missed opportunities, and of course we don’t execute down in the red zone twice for different reasons. And then you’re down, so now you’re chasing points.”
The Greenies stalled offensively to start the third quarter, and the Cajuns finally managed to get going in a more consistent fashion.
Grace found senior running back Justin Drago for a 68-yard dash and then junior wide receiver Curtis McAllister for a 75-yard strike on which the dual-sport star high-pointed the ball over two defenders and then took off for the rest of the yards after the catch to pull within 31-21.
A monster performance by McAllister — more than 250 total yards, which included another fourth-quarter score and set up one for senior Kellen “KB” Brewer (UC Santa Barbara Basketball) — helped headline the Cajuns’ second-half rally.
“They have great receivers in KB and Curtis,” Hill said. “Respect those guys. They played a heck of a game, and in the end we ended up winning, but I think they’re a great ball team. We have a lot to work on, and just gotta keep moving forward because November’s coming by quick.”
Isidore Newman never allowed its edge to slip below 10 points with a critical, 49-yard catch-and-run by senior wide receiver Elliott Rice late in the third, enough timely stops all the way to Yunusah’s and then the Hunter-Roth pop-pass late.
Country Day, known for its aggressiveness and effectiveness on onside kicks, could never snatch away a possession on either special teams of defense.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so unlucky in my career in onside kicks — we didn’t get a single one tonight,” Powell said. “So you’re chasing points and you go for whatever it is, six onside kicks, and you don’t recover a single one, so now you never really get that stolen possession. The other part was in games like this you’ve got to control explosives, which they got us on a hitch-and-pitch and then they throw the late pass when we’re set up to stop ’em short-yardage, so they pop us there.
“So you’ve gotta stop explosives. And then the other part is you’ve gotta get a possession off a fumble, an interception or special teams, and tonight we were close a whole bunch of times, there were all kinds of situations, but the ball literally bounced the other way or we didn’t get on it. So it was tough.”
Isidore Newman now sits at what would be a prime position at No. 4 in the Division-III Select power ratings and has effectively secured a first-round bye in the fast-approaching playoffs.
And the Greenies referenced like a chorus the benefits of Thursday’s competitive battle, their closest in several weeks, as they prepare for the postseason.
“It was amazing,” Yunusah said. “I haven’t played a full game since Week 4, so it feels good to come out here and finally play a football game. Hopefully next week we can go get another big win and get ready for playoffs, because that’s the end goal: playoffs.”
Isidore Newman will visit Covenant Christian (3-5, 1-1) in Week 10, while the Cajuns host East Jefferson (1-7) and aim to improve upon their No. 17 spot in the power ratings and earn a top-16 seed and first-round home game.
