Finally a cold and rainy football Friday night in the Valley. Jesuit faced a physical and inspired Grant JV team. Going into the game the Marauder JV team had already locked up the Delta League championship due to an upset loss by Grant to Davis the week before. Grant would like nothing more than spoil the Marauders perfect league record to salvage their season. The Marauders didn’t lack motivation either as their goal of an unprecedented fourth straight undefeated Delta League season was on the line knowing Grant would be one of their toughest opponents of the year. The host Pacers were as advertised; big, fast, and physical. They proved to be a significant challenge for the boys in red and gold. Jesuit had several key starters out because of injuries and a number of Marauders stepped up and carried the torch for their fallen brothers.

Jesuit took the ball after the opening kick-off and established the run behind their tough offensive line (Tino Foondos, Matthew Collier, Colin Seymour, Jacob Stone, Liam McLoughlin). Kiran Reddy continued to set the tone as the power back by ripping off runs of 38, 5 and 1 yard. Mauricio Marguia-Sarin also added a run of 11 yards to maintain a strong and impressive opening drive. On his first pass attempt of the game Daniel Susac hit Jacob Hall for a 24 yard touchdown strike and after the successful PAT by Gabe Neuman, Jesuit had the lead 7- 0 with 7:32 left in the first quarter. It was the Defense’s turn to take the field and they demonstrated once again they came to play. The Big Red defense dominated the Delta League this year and continued their stellar play with big tackles by Reddy, and Hunter Donelson forcing a Grant quick three and out to start their night. The defense was well prepared to stifle the athletic backs from Grant and it showed as they were consistently in the right place at the right time to squelch any momentum the Pacers would try to muster. The next Marauder drive was six plays with solid runs by Sarin (5 and 1 yard) and a nice completion to Logan Marks (15 yards) before being forced to punt. Grant put together their longest drive of the game on their next possession (10 plays) driving the ball to the Jesuit 12 yard line before the Red Brick Wall defense lead once again by Donelson at linebacker and Tino Foondos in the middle of the line shut down Grant’s fourth and three play to turn the ball over on downs. Soren Peterson and Logan Carter also stepped up and made some key stops to stifle the Grant scoring threat. This stop set the tone for the evening as the Big Red defense would continue their stout play all night. 

Jesuit took the ball and set out to establish the run again. This week saw the addition of several members of the freshman team since their season had concluded the week before. Cash Taylor came into the game to contribute at running back. He immediately made an impact and ripped off a 13 yard gain to start the drive. Unfortunately the turnover bug bit the newcomer and his second carry was stripped away and Grant was set up in the Jesuit red zone with momentum shifting their way. Taylor would redeem himself later in the game with some stellar runs. Grant was knocking on the end zone door; however, the Jesuit Red Brick Wall chants from the sideline inspired the defense as they returned the favor when Foondos forced a Grant fumble on the 6 yard line to end the threat. The Jesuit Offense took over 4 minutes left in the half and put together a 10 play drive to bring the ball Grant 32 yard line.  The drive was highlighted by runs by Reddy (4, 6, and 24 yards), Taylor (15 yards), and a completion to Hall (10 yards). After three unsuccessful passing attempts into the end zone the half ended with Jesuit ahead 7 to 0.

The second half continued with dominate defensive play by Jesuit. The Marauders forced another three and out on the Pacers on their initial possession. Grant Fletcher and Anthony Chideme-Alfaro added their own intense play to contribute to the defense and made several big stops. The Jesuit offense was unable to generate a first down on their next possession and punted the ball right back to Grant. Again the Big Red defense kept hitting hard and the team illustrated they were well prepared for the Pacers and again forced Grant to turn the ball over on downs when Zack Bagley, who made several key plays throughout the game, came up big with a pass deflection to end the Pacer drive. The Jesuit offense started to move the ball more effectively on their next possession. Sarin opened the drive with a nice run (14 yards) and Hall converted a 15 yard reception. The drive continued through the end of the third quarter and into the fourth before Jesuit was turned over on downs. The night of hard-nosed defense kept  going as the Red Brick Wall was clearly the theme of the night. Maddox Martinez came into the game for an injured Reddy and immediately made an impact with a big hit and stop on his first play. After two strong plays for Grant, Jesuit defensive end Logan Carter recovered a fumble and returned it 35 yards to the Grant 15 yard line. Sarin pushed the ball ahead five yards with a tough run. The drive was capped off on the next play when Reddy powered through several tackles and would not go down and pushed through to the end zone from nine yards out for the score. Another solid and straight Neuman PAT and Jesuit had what became an insurmountable lead at 14 – 0 with 4:56 left in the game.

The Big Red defense forced the Pacers to throw the ball which led to QB sacks by Foondos, Peterson, and Bagley, and several key pass deflections by Hall, Fletcher, and Chideme-Alfaro. Grant only managed three more plays in the game as Peterson recovered another forced fumble to give the ball back to the offense. The final possession was highlighted by several freshman stepping in to get a taste of JV playing time. Chris Thorn stepped in at QB and had some tough runs.  The game was ended on a one yard run by team favorite Kabir Shaikh, a reserve running back, who had demonstrated the “men for others” mentality by working hard all year for his teammates.  

Final score, Jesuit 14, Grant 0.  7-0 undefeated Delta League Champs!!!!

Offensive Statistice

Passing

• Daniel Susac – 5 of 17 – 63 Yards – 1 TD

Rushing

• Kiran Reddy – 10 carries for 94 yards and 1 TD
• Mauricio Murguia-Sarin - 8 carries for 38 yards
• Daniel Susac – 1 carry for (5) yards
• Ace Saca – 1 carry for 2 yards
• Cash Taylor – 6 carries for 28 yards and two fumbles
• Chris Thorn – 3 carries for 5 yards
• Kabir Shaikh – 1 carry for 1 yard

• Team total – 30 for 168 yards and 1 T

Recieving

• Hall – 4 catches for 48 yards and 1 TD
• Marks – 1 catch for 15 yards
• Team total – 5 catches for 63 yards and 1 TD

Defensive Statistics

Tackling

• Hunter Donelson – 7 tackles, 1 TFL
• Kiren Reddy – 4 tackles, 1 TFL
• Soren Peterson – 4 tackles, ½ sac, 1 fum rec.
• Grant Fletcher – 4 tackles, 1 pass defl
• Josh Drinen – 4 tackles
• Anthony  Chideme-Alfaro – 3 tackles, 1 pass defl
• Zack Bagley – 3 tackles, 2 pass defl
• Logan Carter 3 tackles, 1 fum rec
• Tino Foondos – 3 tackles, 1 forced fum, 1 sac
• Jacob Hall – 2 tackles, 1 pass defl
• Maddox Martinez – 2 tackles
• Cooper Shults – 2 tackles
• Mauricio Maurgia-Sarin – 1 tackle
• Parker Breen – 1 tackle

Special Teams

• Neumann – 2 for 2 on PATs, 3 Kickoffs average 25 yards
• Grant Flesher –  1 punt for 19 yards            
• Daniel Susac – 1 punt for 25 yards