Over the last four seasons, the rivalry between Brother Rice and St. Rita has swung back and forth like a pendulum.
In 2022, the Mustangs earned a five-point win. The following season, it was the Crusaders claiming a 21-point victory.
Last season, St. Rita was a seven-point victor. As for this season, it was Brother Rice’s time again to reign victorious as it earned a 28-10 victory on Sept. 12 in a CCL/ESCC crossover matchup on the Mustangs’ home field.
Leading the way was senior running back Jaylin Green. The 5-foot-8, 180-pounder scored on runs of 8 and 9 yards while also pulling in a 69-yard TD toss from CJ Gray.
“Jaylin stayed within the framework of what we try to do,” Brother Rice coach Casey Quedenfeld said. “He does a really good job. I said last week to someone that Jaylin does a great job of being in a phone booth and then being able to get out of that phone booth.
“He’s not the biggest nor the strongest, but he does a really good job. Jaylin’s got really good balance and he’s kind of exceptional when he’s in between the tackles and trying to escape from being in between the tackles. And he was able to catch a nice screen pass and take that the distance. He just did an excellent job.”
Green was by no means the lone contributor though for Brother Rice (3-0). Gray threw for 152 yards and two TDs. One was to Green on the screen pass and the other covered 29 yards to Jovan Green Jr. Austin Mrskos added an interception.
“I think that CJ did struggle a little bit in this game out of all the games,” Quedenfeld said. “I think that our opponent did a good job of doing a variety of different looks and things of that nature which caused some confusion upfront for our offensive line.
“Ultimately, CJ was able to calm down at halftime. He was able to continue to do what we ask him to do and deliver even if he started out a little bit slow. He knows that and he’ll make sure that he bounces back.”
St. Rita (1-2) was without injured quarterback Steven Armbruster and receiver Walter Jones. Backup John Fennell completed 12 passes in 27 attempts for 106 yards while Vincent Stubitsch pulled in five passes for 54 yards. Brandon Johnson Jr. paced the Mustangs on the ground with 38 yards on 11 carries. He scored on a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Saul Ruiz chipped in a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter.
“There was a little bit of a different game plan for us,” St. Rita coach Martin Hopkins said. “We were without Steven and Walter, so we tried to make sure that our quarterback and the guys out there were comfortable with what we were doing.
“As the game went on, obviously Brother Rice is a very good defense. We were struggling to move the ball. We tried to adapt, but it was just one of those things that you get behind early and you try to make some big plays later on in the game. But it’s hard to play catchup at that point. You have to give Brother Rice credit for their defense. They have a very good defense.”