The latest thing John Curtis could afford was to give St. Augustine’s explosive offense and dynamic junior quarterback any more opportunities.
Jaelle Noble was already well on his way to another prolific performance with a long touchdown pass to senior star Miguel Whitley (Ole Miss) to reclaim the lead in the back-and-forth Catholic League opener between the highly touted state-title hopefuls.
The No. 4 Purple Knights (4-0, 1-0) disrupted the Patriots’ subsequent possession with a second-down tackle for loss by senior edge rusher Jacques Robichaux III (Southern Miss), and then snatched possession back in great field position with a fumble forced by senior safety Payton Thomas and recovered by junior linebacker Braylon Walters.
No. 5 John Curtis (2-2, 0-1) battled to protect the 29-yard field, but Noble and company converted third and fourth downs and an eventual 8-yard scramble to the end zone to stretch the lead to double digits on their way to the 42-32 St. Augustine victory.
Noble finished with three rushing touchdowns and three passing, twice to Whitley and another to Tulane-committed senior Ray’Quan Williams.
The back-to-back scores to start the second half quickly swung a 24-21 deficit at the break to a 35-24 advantage.
John Curtis junior quarterback London Padgett led a long drive the back half of the third quarter he capped with a goal-line keeper to pull back within 35-32.
But that’s all the Purple Knights would allow the rest of the way, adding some cushion on their next possession and then buckling down for a fourth-down stop in the red zone to highlight a shutout fourth quarter defensively.
Noelle found Whitley for an acrobatic, contested catch in back of the end zone early in the fourth quarter to convert a third down into a 10-yard touchdown.
And as the Patriots marched their way down field in search of another answer, they eventually met a wall outside the 11-yard line in senior defensive tackle Dylan Davis, Robichaux, senior linebackers Talan New and Jai Dillon and company.
Padgett finished with a pair of rushing touchdowns — a 67-yard breakaway for the game’s first points and the third-quarter keeper — and threw an 11-yarder to a leaping, adjusting junior wide receiver Jarvis Stevenson early in the second quarter.
Each of the first-half touchdowns claimed a John Curtis lead, but St. Augustine countered each time with a Noble run to the opposite end zone.
John Curtis extended its narrow second-quarter lead to 17-13 with a 20-yard Cole Schmidt field goal after stalling inside the 5.
And the teams traded leads again Noble’s 57-yard strike to Williams and a 9-yard run by junior running back Isaac Hrabovsky to pull back ahead, 24-21, in the final seconds of the half.
But the Purple Knights took control with the double-up to start the third quarter and never let go.
St. Augustine visits Chalmette (3-1, 0-1) and Holy Cross (2-2, 0-1) the next two weeks, while John Curtis heads to No. 6 Archbishop Rummel (4-0, 1-0)) before hosting No. 1 Edna Karr (4-0, 1-0).
