Justin Wang ‘25

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October 10, 2024 — As the Strake Jesuit Crusaders’ defense lined up on their own 2-yard line with under a minute left in the 4th quarter, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the whole thing was just a really bad dream – that Jesuit (4-2, 2-0 district) shouldn’t have been fighting to preserve a 2-point advantage in a game they’d led 28-7 earlier in the quarter. The Crusaders had held the momentum for much of the game, but three Elsik touchdowns had made it 28-26, giving the Rams (1-6, 1-2 district) a chance at an improbable, game-tying 2-point conversion.

Of course, the Crusader defense stood tall to preserve the win (more on that later), but Jesuit learned the hard way that in district play, no lead is safe. On this particular night, they survived. But try it again over the next few weeks – or against 7-0 Fulshear next Friday – and they won’t be so lucky.

1. Defense held strong when it mattered most

Against Elsik, Jesuit’s defense – which had been decent against run-heavy teams in their first 5 games – faced a pass-first offense for the first time. Rams junior quarterback Kaden Mendenhall’s strong arm, good mobility, and talented receiving corps caused the Crusaders problems early on. Over his first three drives, Mendenhall completed five 20+ yard passes, including a 29-yard strike on 3rd and 12 and a 60-yard touchdown (Jesuit’s longest TD allowed from scrimmage this year) to open the scoring. He was also a handful on the ground, escaping for drive-extending scrambles throughout the game.

The Crusaders adjusted by switching to nickel coverage (adding an extra defensive back) and assigning “spy” linebackers to contain Mendenhall, and Elsik’s next five drives after their opening TD ended with interception, turnover-on-downs, turnover-on-downs, punt (blocked), punt. Individual standouts included junior d-lineman Macgregor Byers with 2 TFL, sack, and  blocked punt; senior safety Henry Omanga, who forced a drive-ending Rams fumble (recovered by linebacker Thomas Fote); and Otto “No Fly” Leone (nickname coined by me), who picked off an end zone shot for his team-leading 3rd interception and 5th turnover of the season. Junior Charlie Pesek also forced a timely 2nd quarter fumble on Mendenhall to stop Elsik in the red zone.

Unfortunately, Mendenhall seemed to shift into another gear in the 4th quarter. Down 7-28, he led three straight scoring drives, throwing 22-yard and 32-yard touchdowns and running for another 12-yarder. En route, he was impressively clutch, converting 4th-and-4 and 3rd-and-21 with passes of 41 and 24 yards, respectively. The last touchdown – with 46 seconds left in the 4th quarter – should’ve been enough to tie the game, but Elsik had missed a previous extra point and, still down 26-28, were forced to go for the tying 2-point play. Down to their last stand, the Crusaders rose up and denied the conversion.

BONUS: Breaking down Elsik’s 2-pt attempt

You need to pick up 2 yards to win the game. What play are you running? Most teams have a go-to play tabbed for these situations. Elsik had one, except it didn’t work. The biggest reason why? Safety Henry Omanga.

The Rams (light blue) lined up in their usual spread formation, with 3 receivers and a tailback. But Omanga (circled), who’d pored over previous Elsik game film, had noticed that they tended to run a right-side jet sweep in short-yardage situations. Before the snap, he told linebacker Luke Rasch (blue arrow) to be alert for the sweep as well. 

Sure enough, before the snap, a receiver motioned across the formation (shown by the blue arrow), setting up for the jet sweep.

The quarterback handed off to the receiver. To score, Elsik needed to block two Crusaders: Rasch (center) and Omanga (off to the right). The ballcarrier would go either between the two blocks or all the way around the edge to score. But notice how Omanga had drifted to the right, away from his would-be blocker, complicating the play.

This was the crucial moment: both Rasch and Omanga defeated their blocks, closing off both routes to the end zone (X’d out) and forcing the ballcarrier to keep moving to the right. Now, the rest of the defense had a chance to rally to the ball.

By the time the runner reached the sideline, five Crusaders were converging on him in front of the goal line; the play was busted.

The Crusaders swarmed and tackled the ballcarrier short of the goal line, preserving their 2-point lead. They did their jobs, none more so than Omanga, whose critical awareness stopped an easy score. “Henry Omanga was the savior on that play,” lineman Byers said postgame. “He held the outside and the rest of the guys got there for the rally tackle.”

On the biggest play of the game, Omanga and the defense came up huge.

2. Offense found old – and new – ways to win

After his monster 420-yard, 5-TD performance against George Ranch last week, Johnny Hebert was the focus for both Jesuit’s offense and Elsik’s defense. The Rams, who likely spent the week drawing up ways to stop the Crusaders’ star tailback, clogged the line of scrimmage better than most teams have managed this season. Their reward? Hebert still went for 276 yards and 3 scores, although he managed a “season-low” 7.7 yards per carry (which, to be clear, is exceptional). He also had “only” two runs of 40+ yards, compared to four 50+ yard touchdowns last week.

Instead, Hebert and the Crusader offense demonstrated their versatility by winning with a much more methodical ground game. Hebert took 17 of his 35 total carries for gains of 4 to 9 yards each. Individually, those gains were nothing extraordinary. But doing it over and over again, as Hebert did, highlighted the effectiveness of Jesuit’s ground game this season. He makes defenses pay, whether through backbreaking long runs (as he did against George Ranch) or the constant, short gains that sank Elsik.

With the Rams focused on stopping the rushing attack, quarterback Bryson Easley had his best game of the season since Week 1’s loss at Euless Trinity. Easley went 7-10 for 101 yards, no picks, and a 29-yard touchdown pass to receiver Dario Contreras just before halftime. In offensive coordinator Billy Noonan’s rush-heavy scheme, Easley doesn’t throw a lot, but his job is to hit his spots when called upon. Against Elsik, he did just that: 5 of his 7 completions went for first downs, including successful conversions on 3rd-and-12, 3rd-and-4, 4th-and-5, and 4th-and-8, all in Elsik territory. He was steady going through his progressions and kept the ball out of harm’s way. 

The senior’s most impressive sequence came late in the 2nd quarter. Tied 7-7 and facing 4th and 8 at the Elsik 39, Easley calmly found tight end Heger Davis near the sideline for a 10-yard pickup. On the very next play, he rolled right and delivered an excellent deep ball that hit Contreras – playing his second game of the season after returning from injury – in stride for a 14-7 lead. With Jesuit receiving the 2nd half kickoff shortly afterwards (Hebert scored on an 18-yard run to make it 21-7), Easley’s poise swung the game’s momentum for SJ. 

3. When will SJ put together 4 full quarters?

Without a doubt, the Crusaders have had a successful start to the season, with 4 quality wins and two tough defeats against perennial playoff contenders in Trinity and Lake Creek. At the same time, it seems like they haven’t played a complete game yet this season:

• Against Trinity, they were tied 21-all at halftime and 28-28 late in the third quarter, before giving up three late touchdowns for a final score of 28-49.
• The next week, they built a 22-2 halftime lead over Aldine Davis, then almost allowing Davis to make it 22-15 – a one-score game – late in the 3rd quarter before pulling away for a 32-15 win.
• They suffered a difficult 21-60 home defeat against Lake Creek, but the score only became a true blowout when the Crusaders fell apart and allowed 3 touchdowns in the game’s final five minutes.
• Against George Ranch in the district opener, they were up 42-14 and looked even more dominant, before allowing the Longhorns to make it a more respectable 42-28 in the 4th quarter.
• Then, a mini-collapse from 28-7 up to 28-26 against Elsik.

None of those moments impacted a game’s final result, but with Jesuit entering a touch stretch of district play – hosting dominant 7-0 Fulshear on 10/18, away at Alief Taylor on 10/25, and traveling to Richmond Foster on 11/7 – a late loss of focus or intensity could be disastrous. So even as the Crusaders celebrated their escape against Elsik, tougher tests loom ahead.

But first, they savored their district win – a seemingly small accomplishment that often proves deceptively difficult to get. “Every win means something to us,” said head coach Donovan Fikac afterwards. “Now, it’s onto Fulshear next Friday.” The Crusaders will hope to repeat their late-game heroics against those Chargers, who will look to clinch the district title with a win on SJ turf. It’ll up to Jesuit to stand up to what will be a potentially season-defining test under the lights at Clay Stadium next week.