John Curtis weathered a Warren Easton comeback and back-and-forth fourth quarter Thursday to remain undefeated at midseason.
Go-ahead touchdown runs by senior Gavin Ledet and sophomore Isaac Hrabovsky highlighted the answers the Patriots (4-0, 2-0), with their mixture of veteran leadership and young talent, continued to find for each big swing by the Eagles (3-2, 0-2).
And senior linebackers Jeffrey Curtis and Jamari Horton managed to corral final stops — an open-field shoestring tackle on third and a fourth-down sack, respectively — to help preserve a 33-29 victory and control of their own destiny early in the Catholic League race.
“We knew coming in it was gonna be this, because they’ve got too many skill players and they’ve got great physical size,” John Curtis coach J.T. Curtis said. “And it gave us problems, because they can move the football both running and throwing. The quarterback and the running backs are as good as anybody we’ve played against, so to come out with a win, I think especially doing it in the fourth quarter, speaks a lot to what we try to get accomplished as a team, and I’m proud of that.
“But it was a typical Catholic League, down-to-the-last-three-minutes game.”
The Patriots, the No. 7 team in the latest LSWA Class 5A poll, seemed at times as though they might break open a bigger lead.
A quick defensive stop and troublesome Warren Easton punt set up a 10-yard field senior running back Jacobi Boudreaux cashed into a 7-0 lead two plays later.
Sophomore quarterback London Padgett added a pair of touchdowns on an 88-yard dash late in the first and a goal-line keeper midway through the second set up by a dancing big-gainer by Boudreaux.
Warren Easton meanwhile had to settle for just a 35-yard run by senior quarterback Carl Reed Jr. in the first half as other opportunities halted with a missed fourth-down conversion near the goal line, a penalty-negated end zone scamper and a deflected heavy to the end zone.
John Curtis could never stretch its lead past two scores, though.
“My guys, they fought hard, man,” Warren Easton coach Jerry Phillips said. “The injury bug caught up with us, but we fought. We’ve gotta make plays, gotta tough it out. They’ve been running this offense for 40 years. It’s not gonna change. And we’ve just gotta tough it out and gut it out. But I’m proud of the way my guys came out and played in that second half. ”
A second-quarter throw to the end zone was bobbled and snatched away by senior cornerback Bryce Carter for an Easton interception. And a pair of third-quarter penalties negated a Patriots’ passing touchdown and an interception in Eagles territory.
Reed led a touchdown march midway through the third and found senior Davon Edwards for a 26-yard strike to pull within 20-14, then popped a couple long keepers late in the quarter to set up a run near the goal line by senior running back Terrell Surtain to push ahead, 21-20, entering the fourth.
Ledet took a pitch on the second play of the quarter, made a defender miss and broke away 83 yards for the 26-21 lead.
“Great play call,” he said. “They’d been stuffing the inside run, and we just had to get out there, and we took advantage of it… I’m thinking, ‘I gotta go. I’ve gotta change the game.'”
Reed, Surtain and company worked their way right back down the field to go ahead, 29-26, on a Reed keeper and Myron Wilhike conversion midway through the fourth.
But, again, John Curtis responded, capped by an eventual Hrabovsky score with 4:57 to play.
Only, this time, the Patriots were finally able to buckle back down and regain possession back from the Eagles before they could find the end zone.
“Just straight competitiveness by our defense,” Jeffrey Curtis said. “We found a way in the end. Not what we wanted, film’s not gonna look great, but we found a way.”
