Against the Eagles, Blue Jays Turn a Great Performance
Jesuit’s 42-14 Victory a Complete Game for Offense and Defense

Connor Prouet begins his third touchdown run from the 13-yard line, dragging a host of Eagles the entire way.
View the Photo Gallery of the Jesuit – Shaw Game
Jesuit should schedule more football games to be played on Saturday afternoon. That’s just a given after the Blue Jays, winless in their first four district games, showed up at Hoss Memtsas Stadium to battle Shaw.

The story was supposed to be Trey Ragas but Mark Beebe and the rest of the Blue Jay defense put a lid on the Eagles’ vaunted running back. Beebe later had one of Jesuit’s two interceptions.
When it was all over by 4:30 p.m., Shaw’s vaunted running back Trey Ragas, who needed just under 100 yards to set a new career rushing record for the Eagles, achieved that milestone at the very end of the third quarter. Consider Ragas lucky that he got what was needed, and not much more, because the Blue Jays’ defense was all over his number 5. The Eagles’ senior running back certainly had to work hard for every yard.
Oh, by the way, the final score was 42-14. In winning their first district game, the Blue Jays were more relieved that it finally happened. In fact, some of the players might have looked like they forgot what it was like to win, prompting Coach Mark Songy to chide them good-naturedly during their usual post-game impromptu meeting on the field: “Hey, you guys, you won! I’m looking at some faces that are glum. You should be happy. Smile. It’s ok to enjoy this win.”
Coach Songy’s light-hearted admonition actually got some laughs from the Blue Jays, who are now 3-5 overall and 1-4 in district. Jesuit’s 2015 regular season has two games remaining to be played.
First, the Jays cross the lake to meet Franklinton in a non-district contest on Friday, Oct. 30 with kickoff at 7 p.m. Jesuit closes out the regular season against Brother Martin on Friday, Nov. 6. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium.
And then the playoffs begin. But that’s three weeks from now. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Instead, let’s enjoy Saturday’s win over Shaw in which the Jays finally put together a complete game.
“I was just waiting for us to play a complete game and we haven’t up to this point, at least in the last four or five weeks or so,” Coach Songy told reporters afterwards. “Yes, it’s nice to get one under our belt. Shaw’s a fine football team. They’ve played some great competition and done well. I think we finally put it all together today and I’m happy about that.”
Connor Prouet, Jesuit’s leading rusher, ran like a Harvey hare and scored three of the Jays’ six touchdowns (numbers one, four, and five) on runs of 35, 25, and 13 yards. Wide receiver Bryce Musso scored Jesuit’s second TD after catching a 13-yard pass from quarterback Peter Hontas in the back of the end zone. Running back Kai Rozas notched Jesuit’s third touchdown, his first of the season, on a two yard burst up the middle. Malachi Hull iced the cake in the fourth quarter with an electrifying 60-yard punt return that had him tip-toeing along the edge of the Eagles’ sideline all the way into the end zone.

Malachi Hull takes this punt on the Jesuit 40-yard line and races 60 yards down the Eagles’ sideline for the Jays’ fifth and final touchdown.
Kicker Crew Jacobs nailed all six PATs.
On the Jays’ first possession, Hontas and the offense marched down the field with Prouet galloping around the left side from 32 yards out to put the Jays up, 7-0. Jesuit’s defense consistently checked Shaw’s offense and before you could consume a Hoss hot dog, the Jays a 21-zip lead that almost carried over into halftime. But the Eagles lit up the scoreboard with their first touchdown in the final minute of the first half to make it a 21-7 ball game.
The momentum stayed with the Eagles at the start of the third quarter when they scored again, closing the gap to 21-14. Shaw might have had momentum, but then the Eagles were hit with two huge penalties – roughing kicker Crew Jacobs and roughing quarterback Hontas on a pass.
“It’s finally a good thing that somebody else makes those kinds of mistakes and we don’t,” said Coach Songy. “That accounted for 30 yards on that drive. So thanks, thanks for the mistake there. Then we punched it in and went on a little bit of a run at that time. Malachi Hull had a nice punt return and offensively we controlled it on the ground pretty well.”
Hull’s punt return for a TD was his first as well as the team’s inaugural of the season.
Jesuit’s defense stiffened like starched shirts and Prouet continued to eat up real estate, this time like a Gretna gazelle. His second touchdown made it a 28-14 game and soon it was a 35-14 spread. Prouet’s third touchdown was something to behold as the junior running back literally dragged three Eagle defenders the final 10 yards before falling across the goal line.
“We finally put it together,” said Coach Songy. “Our defensive staff does a great job putting our guys in position to make plays and we did today. That’s different from a couple of weeks back.”
The story on this cloudy and windy Saturday was supposed to be Shaw’s Trey Ragas setting a new school record for rushing. While Ragas did just that, as one scribe noted after the game, it was a credit to Jesuit’s defense to hold the Eagles’ top running back to about 100 yards.
“He’s a great running back,” said Coach Songy about Ragas. “Defensively, we took care of him and played real well. We put our guys in great position to make plays and they did. Our offense kept the ball out of their hands and that was important. You hate to give up 95 yards to any running back, but Trey is special and we wish him the best of luck.”
Read More…
The New Orleans Advocate: Trey Ragas breaks Shaw’s rushing record, but Jesuit dominates in 42-14 win
Nola.com: Jesuit’s Connor Prouet goes for 3 TDs, spoils record day for Trey Ragas in win over Shaw
Galleries
Football 2015 (Week 8): Jesuit (42) vs. Shaw (14); Hoss Memtsas Stadium; Saturday, October 24
-
... With a huge effort, Connor Prouet bangs his way through four Eagles and into the end zone. The Jays are up 36-14.
-
Connor Prouet crosses the Shaw goal line for the second time, extending the Jays' lead, 28-7.
-
Connor Prouet (second from right) gives a big thanks to those who clear a path for him, including offensive linemen Nick Gauthé (62) and Benji Creel (70), and wide receiver Malachi Hull (6).
-
Seniors are on the front row of The Boosters.
-
Crew Jacobs puts his right foot into one of his kickoffs.
-
Linebackers Marc Dougherty (43) and Cameron Crozier (54) chase Shaw's Trey Ragas.
-
The interception by Mark Beebe (22) has his teammates pumped up, including Jakirai Wiley (4), Zack Roberts (92), and Owen Melville (91).
-
Kai Rozas has some running room on this play. Rozas had eight carries for 94 yards, his most productive game of the season.
-
Kalija Lipscomb had three catches for 35 yards in the Shaw game. For the season, Lipscomb has 40 receptions for 635 yards and five touchdowns.
-
Connor Prouet begins his third touchdown run from the 13-yard line, shaking off this Eagle defender in mid-air...
-
... At the five-yard line, Connor Prouet has two Eagles in his way...
-
In the third quarter, Crew Jacobs has to punt for the second time in the game. The Eagles come after the punt but instead nail Jacobs, who is slow to get up although he's not seriously hurt. The referee immediately throws a flag and dresses down the guilty. The play gets the Jays an automatic first down.
-
The Jays are fired up and on the ensuing kickoff, Guy Patron (41), Edward Rice (39), and Jandon Briscoe (3) make sure this Eagle doesn't go very far.
-
The Eagles punt to Malachi Hull (6), who escapes this Eagle defender and turns the corner...
-
... Malachi Hull somehow shakes off this defender and keeps on rolling down the Shaw sideline...
-
... Malachi Hull goes all the way into the end zone for a 60-yard touchdown on the punt return. It's his first TD on a punt return. The Jays now lead 42-14.
-
Assistant coach Benny Baptiste '81 is so excited for Malachi Hull that he picks up the senior and gives him a big hug.
-
Defensive back Matt McMahon runs back an interception from the Jesuit end zone to the 36-yard line.
-
The singing of the Alma Mater takes place shortly after the two teams meet on the field.
-
The Jesuit Cheerleaders are all smiles after the Blue Jays win their first district game.
-
Coach Mark Songy tells his team to enjoy this win, their first since Week 3. The Jays are now 3-5 overall and will cross the lake to face the Demons of Franklinton on Friday evening, Oct. 30.
-
After wide receiver Bryce Musso (86) catches a 13-yard touchdown pass to put the Jays up,14-0. quarterback Peter Hontas (15) gives him a congratulatory pat on the helmet.
-
The Jayettes take a bow to the applause of the Jesuit crowd. Their performance took place before the game because it was Shaw's Homecoming.
-
The Jesuit captains shake hands with their counterparts, including Shaw's vaunted running back Trey Ragas (5). The senior Blue Jays are quarterback Peter Hontas (15), center John Sewell, who is out with an injury, defensive lineman Zack Robert (92), and defensive back Mark Beebe (22).
-
The team faces the flag for the playing of the National Anthem.
-
Jesuit takes the kickoff and promptly starts moving down the field with Connor Prouet finding large holes opened by offensive linemen Austin Reed (74) and Cameron Maheu (66).
-
Connor Prouet takes the ball at the 32-yard line...
-
... Connor Prouet finds a big opening and scampers into the end zone for the Jays' first touchdown.
-
Jesuit's defense stuffs Shaw's quarterback, forcing the Eagles to punt on the first series.
-
Malachi Hull grinds out a few yards after fielding Shaw's first punt.
-
Connor Maheu (66) protects the flank of running back Kai Rozas, who peels off a nice run.
-
Kai Rozas is given the ball again and runs over a Shaw defender to get the ball to the Eagles' 13-yard line..
-
Junior Seth Reed is one of several xylophone players in the Blue Jay Band. Behind him are the Jayettes ready to perform one of their dance routines.
-
Coach Mark Songy and assistant offensive coach Tim Falter '02 (right) congratulate Bryce Musso on his TD catch, his second of the season.
-
The story of the game was supposed to be Trey Ragas breaking the school's rushing record. Mark Beebe and the rest of the Blue Jay defense couldn't stop Ragas from breaking the record, but they did manage to put a lid on the rest of the Eagles' offense.
-
Peter Hontas attempted 14 passes and completed eight. He had one interception. Here, he completes a pass to Kai Rozas in the flat...
-
... Kai Rozas must have a look of glee after taking Hontas's pass and picking up 40 yards before getting tripped up. The play was Rozas's first - and longest - reception of the season.
-
Kai Rozas bulled his way into the Eagles' end zone for Jesuit's third touchdown of the game. The TD was another first for Rozas - his first of the season after coming close several times in previous games.
-
Denny McGinnis holds for Crew Jacobs, who was perfect on all six of Jesuit's PATs.
-
Linebacker Jacob Baxter has the Eagles' running back Trey Ragas cornered.
-
Linebacker Cameron Crozier (54) and defensive back Mark Beebe make a valiant effort to deflect a pass to this Eagle receiver, who went on to score a TD on the play with less than a minute remaining in the first half. The Jays were still up 21--7.
-
Jayson gets a free ride in the wagon from Jenny Johnston, who is a co-moderator of the Jesuit Cheerleaders.