Jesuit makes it 20 straight over Tampa Catholic

TAMPA — There were moments during Friday night’s annual Tampa Catholic-Jesuit rivalry game where it looked like things might be different this time. For the past 19 years, the Tigers have beaten the Crusaders.

Early in the second quarter, Tampa Catholic led by four points thanks to two big offensive plays. But things went back to normal after that. Jesuit’s Kiael Kelly and Nick Spurlin each scored two touchdowns, and cornerback Junior Vandeross had two second-half interceptions to help the Tigers win 31-21.

It’s the 20th straight win for Jesuit over Tampa Catholic.

“This isn’t just an ordinary win,” Vandeross said. “It’s something that goes from generation to generation. We were fighting the whole game. We gave up some big plays but we fought through that adversity.”

The game started off innocently enough when Jesuit’s Cade Freeman kicked a 39-yard field goal to cap a nine-play opening drive. But it amped up when Tampa Catholic got the ball.

On the fifth play, and the first pass play, quarterback Dylan McCain hit Marcellus Crutchfield on a 55-yard touchdown pass. Crutchfield’s dad, Gerald McCoy of the Carolina Panthers, was on-hand to watch him score. The 7-3 lead stood until early in the second half.

That’s when Jesuit’s Ricky Parks ran it 28 yards to the 5-yard line. Kelly then ran it in from 2 yards on third down to make it 10-7.

But the Crusaders did not go away.

Pinned back on their own 4 after a bad kick return, K.J. Covington ran it 26 yards to the 30. Then D.J. Taylor ran 70 yards for a quick score and a 14-10 lead.

“One thing I like about us is that we fought,” Tampa Catholic coach Jerris McIntyre said. “That’s the good thing about this team this year. They have had some ups and downs but they’ve always fought.”

Jesuit got two unanswered touchdowns near the end of the half to make it 24-14. Spurlin, who rushed for 65 yards, ran in from 5 yards and Kelly got a second touchdown on a 6-yard run with 37 seconds left.

Jesuit made it 31-14 early in the third. Spurlin finished off an eight-play drive with an 8-yard run. That turned out to be the Tigers’ final score, but it was enough.

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Tampa Catholic (5-5) put a bit of a scare into the Tigers in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders appeared to be stopped on third and 10 from the 49, but a Jesuit personal foul call gave them a new set of downs.

They faced a second and 23 from the Jesuit 48 when McCain found Crutchfield again for another long touchdown. Crutchfield had four catches for 123 yards.

Down by 10, Tampa Catholic could get no closer. A final drive with under three minutes left ended when Aiden Clark intercepted McCain.

Parks led Jesuit offensively with 102 yards on 13 carries. While he didn’t score a touchdown, he did have several long runs that kept drives alive.

“We just knew that we had to keep our composure and keep playing hard,” Parks said. “This is a big game every year and we want to win it for our brothers and those who played in it before us. You have to fight every play for every yard.”

Jesuit (8-2) has now won seven straight games. It will host a playoff game next Friday. Both teams will have to wait until Sunday to find out who they are playing in the postseason.