Jesuit New Orleans moved to 3-0 in Rugby Louisiana league play this weekend with a 29-19 defeat of 2015 state champs St. Paul's.

St. Paul’s jumped out to an early lead when senior No. 8 Bam Barreiro quick-tapped a penalty from about seven meters out and bulldozed his way in for five points. The conversion was good and St. Paul's led 7-0.

Photos Hudson Ellis.

After the restart Jesuit quickly regained possession following a poach by flanker Will Newel. Jesuit pressured St. Paul’s with attacks in the midfield using their powerful forward pack. This started to create space for Jesuit flyhalf Case Ellis to exploit, and so he did, popping a kick behind the St. Paul's defense.

The St. Paul's throw-in to the lineout did not go the requisit five meters, and from the ensuing scrum, Jesuit No. 8 Bryce Duffy and senior halfback Josh Cashio connected on a weakside move. Duffy drew the opposition back-rowers and made a crisp pass to Cashio who dotted it down in the corner. On the ground of the ball, the St. Paul’s winger was penalized for a high tackle, resulting in a penalty try and an easy conversion to tie the game.

Jesuit maintained control and possession through the remainder of the first half. Ellis found space shortly before halftime and galloped in from 50 meters. With the conversion that made it 14-7 for Jesuit. 

The second half saw similar action with St. Paul’s using Barreiro to continually test Jesuit’s defense. His efforts eventually paid dividends, as following one of the eightman's runs, St. Paul’s prop Andrew Eikel exploited Jesuit's misaligned defense and went over for the try. With the conversion it was 14-14.

Jesuit rebounded quickly, attacked up the middle, and found space for hard-charging fullback Jack Gab, who attracted two defenders before passing to wing and captain Nate Beech. Beech fought off several defenders before finding his way to the tryline and a 19-14 lead. Shortly thereafter, following a series of Jesuit phases that stretched St. Paul’s defense and covered the entire width of the field, junior inside center Matt Palmer used some nifty footwork and speed to burn St. Paul’s for another centered try. The conversion was good and now Jesuit led 26-14. Jesuit added three points with a penalty kick from center Ian Fogarty. St. Paul’s closed out the score late in the match when outside center Cameron Myers found a crease in Jesuit’s defense, which he exploited for the try.

Ellis and Barreiro were the players of the game.

"Our loss last week to Katy was helpful in that it uncovered several areas in our game that required improvement," said Jesuit Head Coach Adam Massey. "Though we still have work left to go, we were able to adjust our pattern and tighten up our systems, which showed this weekend in our ability to maintain possession and territory throughout most of the match."