Jesuit to revive old football rivalry with Pensacola

    When Jesuit won its sixth state football championship in 1953, it lost just one game.
    Fast forward to 1960, when the Blue Jays won their seventh and final title to date. The Jays lost just one game.
    Both setbacks were to Florida nemesis, Pensacola High.
    The interstate rivalry between the two, which began during prep’s “Golden Age,” was subsequently canceled following the 1966 game.
    But, beginning in the fall, 47 years after the final horn sounded on the colorful rivalry, the two schools will resume their annual meetings on a home-and-home basis, said Jesuit athletic director, David Moreau.
    The series began in 1946, the year Jesuit swept state championships in the four major sports of the day. The Blue Jays rolled in their season-opener to a 26-7 victory, the first of 13 consecutive triumphs that year.
    For the next five seasons, the Blue Jays tamed the Tigers. Then, in 1953, an incident prevented them from sweeping the 11-game season. That occurred in Pensacola when the scoreboard clock failed to work late in the game with the Blue Jays trailing, 7-6.
    After Jesuit moved the ball to the Tigers’ 2-yard line, its quarterback asked an official how much time was left? The  referee replied there was time “for about two plays.”
    The plan was to run one play then kick a field goal. But when the Jays broke the huddle for the first play, the official blew his whistle and signaled the game was over.
    That Jesuit team was loaded with outstanding players, including backs Mickey Lanasa and Richie Petitbon and outstanding linemen Will Billon and Al Ecuyer.
    They went on to outscore the remainder of their opponents 366-74 and win the Class 2A title over Byrd, 7-6.
    Pensacola also won the Florida state championship.
    From 1954-66, the series tightened, with each team winning five games apiece. One of those setbacks came during a run of four wins for Pensacola between 1958-61 when tailback Pat Screen starred for the Blue Jays.
    During Screen’s three years as the offensive leader, Jesuit did not lose a Catholic League game. But the Jays did lose to Pensacola on the road again. This time, neither the clock nor the officials needed to aid the host Tigers. They won convincingly, 19-7.
    Jesuit finished the season with an 11-1 record following a 21-20 championship win over La Grange.
    The series ended following a 19-0 Pensacola victory in 1966 with Jesuit holding an overall 11-6 lead.
    In 1964, the LHSAA added Thibodaux, Terrebonne and South Terrebonne to the Catholic League to form an eight-team district with Jesuit, Holy Cross, Redemptorist, De La Salle and St. Aloysius. The bayou schools stayed for two years until Archbishop Rummel and eventually St. Augustine and Archbishop Shaw replaced them.
    The additional district competition necessitated the end of the colorful rivalry between Jesuit and Pensacola in 1967.