It's a tight race in the Louisiana HS league as both games this weekend were decided by a try or less, and in fact three of the four league games this year have been that close.

This week, St. Paul's opened their season with a nicely-taken 33-26 defeat of the Bayou Hurricanes. That put Bayou at 0-2-1 although the Hurricanes have certainly played some good rugby.

And even closer was Brother Martin against Jesuit of New Orleans. The old rivals took each other on in the sun at New Orleans City Park, and Jesuit looked the stronger in the first half. Their smothering defense put Brother Martin on the back food. Jesuit opened the scoring with a converted try but Brother Martin answered to make it 7-5. The game continued in that vein, and Jesuit scored again only to see Martin come back and get a try. That made it 14-10 at halftime.

Jesuit continued to exert pressure and scored their third converted try to lead 21-10. But it wasn't over as, with time winding down, brother Martin scored and converted to make it 21-17. There was time for one more possession. Brother Martin received the kick, ran through some phases, and then prop Jacob Schmidt burst through for a break. He was finally dragged down but his support was there to pick up and score a dramatic come-from-behind victory for Brother Martin.

Led by a strong effort from Schmidt and lock Artie Dogalou, Brother Martin is now 2-0 in Louisiana league play. Jesuit is 0-1-1.

Next up, Brother Martin and St. Paul's face off, while Jesuit hosts St. Pius X out of Texas. Brother Martin will take on Pius on the following Monday.