Game of the Week: Crusaders Host Bears

The Eastside Catholic Crusaders (1-1) host the Bishop Blanchet Bears (1-1) this Thursday, September 14th.

Almost a year to date from a tough 14-48 loss to Eastside Catholic, Metro League rivals Bishop Blanchet will venture to the plateau, seeking to shock many by upsetting a powerhouse in Eastside Catholic, the No. 1 ranked 3A program in Washington by Scorebook Live. The Crusaders are coming off of their first Metro League game of the season, having glided past Ballard in a 43-0 win. 

A One-Sided History 

Blanchet finds themselves in a similar spot as Ballard as they face an in league powerhouse whom they’ve struggled mightily against historically.

According to MaxPreps, the Bears have lost every game against EC since 2004. That’s at least sixteen straight losses for Blanchet, with the average margin of victory for Eastside at 28.3 points. The closest Blanchet has came to a win in that timeframe was when they lost 14-7 on October 9th, 2004, nearly 19 years ago.

Blanchet is in the middle of a tough three game window in their schedule, having fallen to O’Dea 21-51 at home last week, and facing Garfield next week. Each of these three teams are included in Scorebook Live’s Washington Power 25, meaning that Blanchet might face an 0-3 start to their Metro League slate for the year, which would all but end their chances of a Metro League championship, let alone a state playoff appearance. 

X-Factor: Bishop Blanchet’s Run Defense 

Looking specifically at last week, Blanchet struggled to contain O’Dea’s mighty run game, led by four-star senior running back Jason Brown Jr. who finished with 210 yards and 4 touchdowns in just nine carries, a simply ridiculous stat line. EC features a similarly formidable rush attack, with sophomore Nick Jones and junior Jeramiah “JB” Burroughs forming a dynamic duo at halfback. Each of them finished last week’s game at Ballard with long touchdown runs. 

Bishop Blanchet’s run defense was no match for O’Dea’s signature run-heavy offensive scheme in last week’s matchup, and if they have any chance of pulling off the upset, they will need a concerted overhaul in performance. If the Crusaders running backs average over 20 yards a carry as O’Dea’s Jason Brown Jr. did or anywhere close to that, the Bears offense likely won’t be able to overcome the deficit.

This all goes to show that the odds aren’t exactly in Blanchet’s favor heading into Thursday’s matchup, even as EC features a far less experienced roster than in years prior, especially at key skill positions offensively. In fact, the X factor in last week’s game for Eastside’s offense was sophomore WR Asa Thompson, who recorded multiple touchdown receptions on the day including a tremendous catch over a Ballard defender deep in the end zone in the 2nd quarter. Fellow sophomore running Nick Jones also had a terrific touchdown run, illustrating how EC’s strong depth and young talent gives them in a notable advantage over Blanchet. 

Prediction: Eastside Catholic Crusaders 49 – 10 Bishop Blanchet Bears

The Crusaders have beaten the Bears by over 28 points per game in each of their matchups in the past 19 years, and that amount has usually been greater than that in the past half decade.

Due to EC’s stifling defense as seen in last week’s matchup vs. Ballard, as well as Blanchet’s solid offensive outing against another top Metro League team in O’Dea, I project for them to score at least a touchdown or two and avoid a shutout.

For Blanchet to go on and upset the top team in Washington, it would take quite a lot to go right for the Bears, but the beauty of sports is that nothing is truly a given.