Forty-seven months is a long time to wait.
Not that anyone at Brother Rice was counting, but that’s how long it had been since the Crusaders claimed a victory over neighborhood rival Marist on the football field.
On Sept. 5, not only did Brother Rice snap its three-game losing streak to the RedHawks, it did so in a most impressive fashion.
Thanks to a strong defensive effort and a balanced offensive game plan, the Crusaders cruised to a 35-0 victory at Marist.
“This means a lot to the kids, especially the ones who live locally,” Brother Rice coach Casey Quedenfeld said. “It means a lot and no one can ignore that, but it’s just another step in the journey that these kids have taken with me.
“This Class of (20)26 is the first group that came in with me. They’ve been with me all along the way. CJ Gray and King Liggins and Jaylin and Jovan Green, they’ve all been with me and they’re attached to me forever.”
Last season, Marist beat Brother Rice 34-27. In 2023, it was 30-24 RedHawks. The year prior, the Crusaders fell 34-16 to Marist.
“The kids have big plans and we want to take this week-by-week,” Quedenfeld said. “They know last year was close and the year before that was close. To get over that is a big deal.
“They have 24 hours (to enjoy this win) and then get back to work.”
Just over four minutes into the game, Gray scored on a 2-yard run to make it 7-0 in favor of the guests. A Charlie Barkmeier interception then led to a 27-yard TD strike from Gray to Lucas Strang, widening Brother Rice’s advantage to 14-0 at 4:14 of the first quarter.
Gray finished the game completing 10 of 16 passes for 134 yards and two scores. For good measure, the Army commit added 49 yards rushing on 12 attempts.
“This feels great,” Gray said. “This is a game that we’ve been looking forward to and we came out here and we handled our business.”
Jaylin Green’s 2-yard TD run with 3:40 remaining in the second quarter gave the guests a 21-0 lead. Green had 62 yards on eight carries.
Brother Rice kept rolling along in the third quarter as Jovan Green Jr. pulled in a 17-yard scoring pass from Gray and Jameson Davis provided an 8-yard TD run, making it 35-0 with 3:50 to play.
Jovan Green Jr. finished with five receptions for 54 yards. Davis accounted for 45 yards rushing on eight attempts.
“We have a lot of tools in the toolbox,” Gray said. “Whatever is working, we use that and we have a lot of other things. It’s great that we’re versatile and we’re able to do everything. …We were firing on all cylinders and we went out and executed what we needed to do.
“We kept it moving and we never got complacent. We kept the pedal to the metal.”