Jesuit 2-1 (2-0) beat Robinson 2-1 (1-1) by the score of 21-7. The tale of story, though, was the individual story lines and overall rivalries.
Byron Pringle, Senior, 6-2/180 vs. Travis Johnson, Junior, 6-4/200
Johnson is listed as the No. 1 BCP WR who, as of August 1, has over 30 college offers with the majority coming from BCS schools. Read the BCP article HERE.
Pringle looked bigger than 6-2 as he covered Johnson 1-on-1 for the majority of the night, holding Johnson to just three catches for 40 yards. The biggest reason Pringle was able to hold Johnson to zero catches in the first half on just two targets was because he wasn’t afraid to play in tight bump-and-run coverage. Johnson, who leads Jesuit with six catches for 83 yards on the season, faced a defensive back that was confident enough in his speed that he didn’t fear Johnson running by him.
Pringle also showed the ability to use his hands when Jesuit ran the ball in his direction. He was able to extend his long arms keeping Johnson’s body away from him and shake the blocking WR to force the ball carrier toward the middle of the field, at times even completing the solo tackle in space.
When Johnson did get free he used his big body to create havoc downfield. On 2nd and long QB Tommy Eveld connected with Johnson along the sideline for 15 yards. It took five defenders to bring the DI prospect down.
“Travis played a lot of football on both offense and defense so I had to push him,” Jesuit HC James Harrell said. “I challenged him to push through the fatigue and play like a champion on both sides of the ball.”
The Tigers were able to hold Pringle to three catches for 59 yards. A big factor of his game is returning kicks. Something Jesuit was very aware of, but they did not let that affect their mindset coming into the game.
“We went over how to cover the kickoff, but we were ready to kick it to him,” Harrell said. “We aren’t running away from him. We aren’t afraid of him.”
The Tigers held Pringle to just two returns for 31 yards. He was averaging over 45 yard per kick return coming into the game.
Battle in the Trenches:
What a struggle it was for both sides in the first half. The teams were limited to 95 rushing yards combined. Remember, these teams averaged over 125 rushing yards each in their first two games. “They’ve got basically four Division I prospects on that line,” Harrell said of the Robinson defensive front.
Robinson HC Mike Depue was happy with his team’s defensive push in the first half, but admitted that after an injury to senior Justin Creech things became difficult.
“In the 1st half we felt we did a pretty damn good job controlling things,” Depue explained. “The stretch [in the second half] hurt us. I think that was all momentum. I don’t think that was [Jesuit’s] talent. That was all momentum.”
Junior OL/DL Bruce Hector was forced to go both ways for the Knights following the injury to Creech. “He is going to be one of the premier offensive/defensive linemen around here in the next two years. I don’t think he came off the field,” Depue said.
Jesuit’s offensive stars knew the job their linemen did to slow down the Robinson front seven was an admiral task.
“The offensive line was great,” Bryce Walker said. “They blocked well and really opened up some holes for us.”
Senior QB Tommy Eveld agreed that the offensive line did a great job giving him and the running backs time and lanes to work with. “The o-line did a great job. They gave me plenty of time when I needed it and they blew up their d-Line,” he said. “They opened up some nice holes for our running backs and our running backs made some guys miss and got down the field.”
Rivals Respond:
November 26, 2010 the Jesuit Tigers hosted the Robinson Knights in the regional finals. Robinson defeated Jesuit 21-7.
“After what Robinson did to us last yr, on our home field, this is almost like we were coming out here to get even,” Eveld said. “We were looking at this game to give us a gauge going forward. Now that it’s over we have to go forward and win one game at a time. My confidence level is pretty high right now.”
Bryce Walker hopes the rivals meet again this year, next time in the playoffs. “This is the best competition we have. I love it,” he said. “Every time we play we know we’re going to get their best and they know they’re going to get ours. It’s some of the most fun games we have by far.”