St. Thomas and Strake Jesuit is a prime example of a great sports rivalry in the city of Houston. The rivalry between the Eagles and Crusaders is full of history, tradition and athletic greatness across all sports. The football rivalry began in 1964 when the two all-male high schools met for the first time. St. Thomas began the rivalry with twelve victories in as many years, but Strake Jesuit has dominated in recent years, with fourteen consecutive victories from 1998-2011. For about a decade, the Crusaders dominated the Eagles in every area of football possible, but St. Thomas began to find their footing in 2010. They finished with a better record the past two seasons, with back-to-back playoff appearances and an appearance in last season's TAPPS 5A State Semifinal. Strake's only stake in the rivalry was their fourteen game win streak against rival St. Thomas.
The fiftieth football meeting between the private school powers took place last night at Strake's Crusader Stadium and it was a defensive battle throughout the game. St. Thomas entered the game with an impressive 21-20 victory over UIL Class 3A power Rice Consolidated to open the season, while Strake began the season with a blowout loss to Spring Dekaney. The Eagles were carrying the early-season momentum and looked to their dominant defense to finally end the rivalry losing streak.
The defenses dominated the opening minutes and the game was scoreless after the first quarter, but Strake opened the second quarter with an opening minute touchdown pass from Kyle Campbell to Kyle Santry. The Crusaders' early lead would not stand, as the Eagles scored fourteen unanswered in the quarter to take the halftime lead. The Eagles' defense had a great first half and Senior C.J. Seeman forced both an interception and fumble.
Although St. Thomas carried the momentum from their first half success, they would face a tough second half and their hopeful victory was up for grabs. Strake put pressure on quarterback Michael Reul and the Eagle offense early in the third quarter and forced numerous turnovers throughout the half. The Eagle defense, who had carried the team all night, even let up a game-tying touchdown late in the quarter.
The storyline of the first three quarters set up a potential storybook ending. The two football programs were headed in opposite directions and one was trying to break a horrible losing streak to the other. On this day, the two longtime rivals were equal in both talent and ability and were tied heading to the fourth quarter. Both teams traded possessions throughout the quarter and the game looked to be headed for overtime. But once again, the St. Thomas defense, that had played so well through the season's first seven quarters, stepped up and forced a Jesuit punt with less than a minute left in the game. The punt went haywire and the Eagles began their drive in Crusader territory. Forty seconds remained when St. Thomas began the game's final drive. A couple productive plays set up Jack Brady's game-winning 37 yard field goal with four seconds remaining in the game. With another close victory to start the season, the Eagles took back control of the rivalry and won at Strake for the first time since 1988. The Eagles will be welcomed at next week's home opener against Santa Fe with their best start in many years.
