Crusader Sports History

Sader Sports History
Friday, September 5, 2008
Four Consecutive State Championships | Kingsmen's Only State Championship | Swimming Coach of the Year |
Most Brilliant Performance in Many a Year | Crusader Quiz

Four Consecutive State Championships

The 1986-7 wrestling team won their fourth state championship in a row under Coach Ray Charbonneau.

The season started with a 107-106 win at the Brother Martin Invitational.

The Crusaders won their next 13 meets entering the Regionals.

BM won the Regional 180-122 over second place Jesuit. 12 Crusaders qualified for state.

Three Saders won state titles: Marc Devenport (112), Eric Anderson (155), and Brian Delatte (185).

The team easily outpointed second place Grace King 167 1/2 to 106.

Six seniors wrestled on all four state champion squads. In addition to the three state champs, this list includes Mark Bell, Daniel Buras, and Greg Schmidt.

Kingsmen's Only State Championship

In its brief athletic history, Cor Jesu High School won one state championship. That was in golf in 1969.

The coach was Don Oster.

The team posted a 615 total to win the city title by 20 strokes at City Park.

The state tournament was plagued by steady rain the first day and wet grounds the second. Nevertheless, the team tallied the low score of 625.

Stan Stopa (BM '70) became a33 professional golfer. He has been a club professional and played in events on the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour. He lives in Metairie.

Kingsmen state champion golfers: Mike Jones, Stan Stopa, Bill McGaffick, Jerome Gambino
Nice hat, Stan!

Swimming Coach of the Year

The 1987-8 swim team compiled the best season in Brother Martin history to that point.

The squad finished second in city and second in state.

Brant Schroeder earned Coach of the Year honors.

Outstanding performances were turned in by David Beck, Ricky Akin, Murray Fontenot, Eric Houin, Chris Page, Chris Casper, and Jimmy Wright.

Other members of the team were Matt Monson, John Fontenot, and Billy Gaudin.

"Most Brilliant Performance in Many a Year"

On Sunday, October 13, 1940, the St. Aloysius Crusaders met the Jesuit Blue Jays at "Municipal Stadium" in City Park. The Jays were heavy pre-season favorites to win the Prep league with a team averaging 175 lbs. - their "heaviest in eight years" (according to The Aloysian) - and "three complete units." The first 11 were all lettermen led by star LH O.J. Key. Jesuit had begun the season beating Behrman 74-0!

The Crusaders were 1-0-1 after tying Moss Point 0-0 and trouncing Nicholls 40-0. In the latter game, sophomore HB Johnny Campora set a school record with 197 yards on 18 carries. The Red Knights were coached for the second year by Harry "Wop" Glover. He was assisted by George "Mud" Clay, the "star G on Tulane's powerhouse aggregation of the past year."

Heavy underdogs (5 TDs according to The Aloysian), the Saints "turned in their most brilliant performance in many a year." They forced the Blue Jays to play heads up ball from the opening whistle to the last seconds.

Q1: Jesuit took advantage of mistakes to score first on Key’s pass to Johnny Ballatin. The PAT was muffed.

Q2: The Crusaders marched to the tying TD. Campora, "behind brilliant blocking by Jimmie Filkins, circled his own right end to cross the goal line standing up." The PAT failed. The Jays pushed across a score to lead 13-6 at the half.

Q3: SA drove 45 yards but lost the ball on downs. Then Key dashed 66 yards for a TD.

Q4: Aloysius held for four downs on their own one. Special praise went to Leon Chaplain and Campora "for making such a staunch defense of their goal line."

The Saders had still not defeated the Banks Street school on the gridiron but were proud of the competitive battle they had waged. [DID JESUIT WIN STATE?]

St.Aloysius-Jesuit 1940

Crusader Quiz

The school that St. Aloysius defeated in overtime in 1969 to earn a trip to the Final Four in Alexandria was the same one that Brother Martin bested in OT in the 1970 Finals to complete the 36-0 season. Identify that school.
Bonus question: In what arenas were the two games played?

About This Site

This site is maintained by Brother Neal Golden, S.C. (CJ '57 who attended St. Aloysius in 1953-4). This section of the Alumni Web site is dedicated to all the Crusader and Kingsmen athletes and coaches at St. Aloysius, Cor Jesu, and Brother Martin. All sports and eras will be included, though not in like measure because available information is not equally distributed. The site will be updated frequently as the author's time permits and older postings will be moved to archives. So if you don't get back to the site for awhile, anything you missed will be accessible from links in the right-hand column above. Suggestions for improvements and items to include are welcome as are the personal stories of Crusader athletes. Ametur Cor Jesu! Loved be the Heart of Jesus!

The author's personal Web site on college and pro football, basketball, and baseball, including his Golden Football Rankings each fall, can be accessed by clicking here.