Sweet revenge: Jesuit routs Christian Brothers in Holy Bowl 50
Revenge was on the mind of Jesuit High School senior Kai Santos and the rest of his Marauder football teammates.
Two years after rival Christian Brothers rallied to steal a Holy Bowl victory punctuated by players and fans racing to midfield, payback was sweet for Big Red on Saturday night. With a Hughes Stadium crowd of just over 9,000 people, sixth-ranked Jesuit beat No. 7 Christian Brothers 44-0 in the 50th meeting between the parochial programs. It was the first Holy Bowl shutout since 1996, when Jesuit won 23-0.
“It’s amazing (to win this game),” Jesuit senior Kai Santos said. “I remember that feeling (of losing). I watched videos of it all week. I wanted to make sure we never feel like that again and they never get to feel like that again.”
Santos did his part. He had touchdown runs of 4 and 85 yards in the first half. Jesuit quarterbacks Preston Vukovich and Trenton Dewar and kicker Alejandro Rojas all scored rushing touchdowns. The Marauders offensive line of Blair Horan, Nelson Jack Hemmert, Jp Leatherby, Evan Mayers, Josef Mokofisi and tight end Kai Wallin didn’t allow a sack and opened up holes all night.
Jesuit’s defense was equally impressive. Big Red applied consistent pressure all night on Christian Brothers quarterback Jake Elorduy. Jesuit senior Jackson Hagopian had a 30-yard pick-6 and Jagger Shaddix, Jack Hemmert and Wallin all had sacks.
After starting the season with a blowout loss to top-ranked Folsom, Jesuit has found its footing with back-to-back wins over Granite Bay and Christian Brothers. Losing preseason games and then making a run in the Delta League has been a common theme for Jesuit the past few seasons.
“This was a good bounceback game for us,” Jesuit coach Marlon Blanton said. “Our defense is playing better this year. Doesn’t matter who we really play. The first week our defense got trounced. The last few weeks they have played really good football. … This has kind of been our deal. We get better as time goes on. The more time we have in the program, the better we get. That’s kind of been the theme the last five or six years.”
This year’s Holy Bowl was limited to only 8,000 tickets sold. Both schools agreed on the number because they didn’t want to make the game a “mega event” which would require COVID-19 protocols and testing. In a normal year, the Holy Bowl can draw as many as 15,000 people. Despite the smaller crowd, the energy was felt by the players.
“The fans are great, I love the support,” Hagopian said. “This is easily (the mecca of high school football in Sacramento). This is close to Texas football. This is the biggest crowd you’ll see all year.”
Christian Brothers (2-1) was missing star running back D.J. Crowther, who missed last week’s game against Sheldon with an ankle injury. Crowther was dressed in uniform and went through pregame warmups, but was not on the field for a snap.
Jesuit opens up Delta League play on Saturday against Pleasant Grove. Christian Brothers starts Capital Athletic League play on Saturday against Sacramento.