It’s the oldest rivalry in the state of Louisiana high school football and the fifth oldest high school football rivalry in the country. Holy Cross and Jesuit have been battling it out on the football field since their first meeting back in 1922. Friday night’s matchup marked the 98th meeting between the two schools for bragging rights for the Golden Football and Great American Rivalry Series Championship Trophy.

MVP

Landen Bates
Holy Cross

SCHOLAR ATHLETES

Matthew Frischertz

Jesuit

A a three-year letterman, Matt has been an important weapon for the Jays from his defensive end position. He is an involved student serving as Jesuit’s student body vice-president, a Eucharistic minister, and a member of the peer support team. Also, he is a member of the National Honor Society. This summer Matt put in more than one hundred hours of service at Krewe de Camp, a camp dedicated to enhancing the lives of special needs children. Matt hopes to attend Mississippi State or Ole Miss and eventually pursue a career in business. He is the son of Kevin and Lori Frischhertz.
Alex Martin

Holy Cross

Alex embodies the true spirit of the Holy Cross student-athlete. In addition to making a commitment to represent the Tigers on the gridiron, Alex has managed to achieve a 5.05 GPA while taking 24 honors, scholars or AP courses throughout his academic curriculum. As a member of the Brother James McDonnell C.S.C. Scholars Program, Alex has represented Holy Cross in interscholastic debate competitions and dedicated himself to community service.

HALL OF FAME

RIch Chanove

Jesuit

Rick stands out as one of Jesuit’s great athletes of the 1980s. As a three-year letterman in football at quarterback, Rick was a big factor in the Jays’ victories over the Tigers in 1987 and 1988. After his senior football season, he earned All-District and All-Metro honors. Rick was also a standout baseball player for the Jays, a four-year starter who received numerous accolades including All-State honors and the prestigious Rusty Staub Award for leadership on the baseball team. After Jesuit, Rick attended Tulane on a baseball scholarship. During his stellar baseball career at Tulane, he was captain of the baseball team his junior and senior years, was on the All-Metro Conference Tournament Team his senior year, and several times was named the Metro Conference Player of the Week. At the end of his Tulane career, Rick received the Team Leadership Award. Rick is a CPA serving as the operations support manager for Utility Lines Construction Services. Rick and his wife Betsy have three children – daughter Mallory and sons Jake and Grayson.
Kenny Hrapmann

Holy Cross

Andrew’s first service activity was as a freshman in 2014 at the Kindy Walk, which has developed into an annual event for him. He has worked with the Knights of Columbus at St. Andrew the Apostle’s Elementary School in Algiers, assisting at their fish fry, assisting Santa for their Christmas event, and serving as an altar server. In addition, he has volunteered with Special Olympics. His proudest moment was being chosen to represent Holy Cross New Orleans, at the annual Immersion Trip. This trip brings together students from Holy Cross schools around the country. Andrew was part of a group who worked tirelessly to help the homeless and refurbish community parks and gardens. Andrew believes that the Holy Cross Immersion trip and all other service projects have truly changed his life, and helped him understand what it truly means to be a Holy Cross Man.

GAME SUMMARY

The first half was one to remember for the Tigers of Holy Cross in their 98th meeting against Jesuit. The Tigers scored on each of their first four possessions and mixed in an interception return for a touchdown that accounted for all of their scoring in the opening two periods to beat the Blue Jays of Jesuit 31-17. Great American Rivalry game MVP Landen Bates ignited the Tigers by rushing for 209 yards on 25 carries with a 79 yard touchdown on the first possession for the Tigers. Although the Tigers never looked back in recording their third victory in five seasons against the Blue Jays, there were enough anxious second half moments. Jesuit put together a positive half and knocking on the door of the Tigers multiple times, but ultimately coming up short in its fight back. The Holy Cross win trims Jesuit’s advantage in the series to 56-40-1.

GAME GALLERY