The Strake Jesuit Fighting Crusaders hosted the Brazoswood Buccaneers on Friday. The home team had 460 yards of offense and the visitors left with 52. From this stat alone, one should not gasp in shock when reading about the 52-0 beatdown Jesuit handed the Bucs.
Out of the gate, the Crusaders cruised to a Dylan Campbell rushing touchdown in five plays. Brazoswood responded with the first of eight punts on the night. Strake Jesuit began their second drive with momentum. Junior wide receiver Robert Smith caught a vicious hit from a defender out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard gain. Yet, false starts and holding calls forced the Crusaders to punt.
Murphy's Law would haunt Brazoswood for the remainder of the game though. Hoping to kickstart their offense, the Bucs ran their trusty inside zone concepts. Junior nose tackle Jacob Psyk had other plans. On a night with two tackles for a loss and two sacks, he also stripped the ball for senior cornerback Denzel Blackwell to scoop it up for a score. The very next drive, one of those tackles for a loss would force Brazoswood's Trace Thompson into a third-and-long situation. The obvious passing down allowed the Crusader defense to sit back in coverage and let senior cornerback Conner Young come up with an interception. Dylan Campbell tallied 40 more yards and another score.
A few minutes later, Denzel Blackwell scored off of a well-blocked punt return. Defensive and special teams touchdowns, it can't get any worse right? Throw in another fumble courtesy of Mr. Psyk and allow senior linebacker Josh Cashiola to pounce on it. Alex May, the backup running back to Campbell, would score the fifth touchdown of his excellent junior season. The Crusaders left the half with five touchdowns and a 35-0 lead. Meanwhile, Brazoswood only had two first downs.
Though momentum was in heavy favor of Strake Jesuit, Brazoswood seemed to find a spark with a 50-yard kickoff return. That spark fizzled into another punt—the broken record would play for the rest of the half.
After Alex May and Dylan Campbell led the Crusaders to a 42-0 lead, head coach Klay Kubiak subbed in his second string. Joel Crawford, a short sophomore running back reminiscent of Darren Sproles, took full advantage of his 14 carries by rushing for 106 yards. Even Connor O'Hara, the junior quarterback recovering from an offseason knee injury, received his first in-game reps of the season. The pocket passer—in stark contrast with the run-and-gun starter William Dickason—immediately impacted the game with a 20-yard passing touchdown. A field goal would make it 52-0.
Through their blowout, the Crusaders played efficiently and successfully. They only had two penalties and two punts. Dylan Campbell averaged 11 yards per carry with 143 yards and three touchdowns at the half. Alex May ran for 93 yards and a score, while Joel Crawford had his breakout performance with 106 yards in late game action. Quarterback William Dickason also finished 7-for-14 for 87 yards. There was not much need for throwing the ball when Denzel Blackwell was scoring touchdowns on defense and special teams.
The Crusaders will have a short week before they play at George Ranch next Thursday. The Longhorns are 4-1 in district play, and the game most likely decides who places second in District 23-6A.
