10 eye-catchers from Catholic-BR vs. U-High

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Catholic (Baton Rouge) regained control of the "Battle of Baton Rouge" this year with a dominant defensive performance, deep running back stable and effective tempo.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bears shut out fellow perennial power University Lab for the first three and a half quarterers and managed to blow open a four-score lead with big second- and third-quarter drives.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cubs battled back — as has often been the case in the series — but not enough this time to overcome an eventual 28-14 Catholic win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a look at 10 of the eye-catchers from this year's contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401737' first='Blaine' last='Bradford'] — 6-2, 205 DB — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1602064' first='Harrison' last='Kidder'] — 6-1, 190 LB/DB — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1602105' first='Maxwell' last='Maurer'] — 5-10, 190 LB — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bears' current college commits, Bradford to Ohio State and Kidder to Louisiana (Lafayette) and fellow returning starter Maurer were able to get downhill all night from the linebacker and safety levels for one hard-hitting stop after another and one play after another in traffic on which they were able to get an arm on a ball-carrier to either trip him up or slow him down for the rest of the defense to swarm. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Taylor Goldsmith — 5-11, 170 DB — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bears' defense excelled more in its discipline and consistency than in splash plays, but the best of both worlds met early as Goldsmith read a developing U-High screen on its first possession and jumped the play for an interception for an early spark and great field position. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='739720' first='Jayden' last='Miles'] — 6-2, 205 RB — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The highly recruited star led a strong rushing attack overall for the Bears with two touchdowns and over 100 yards as he and fellow juniors [player_tooltip player_id='1783095' first='Justin' last='Batiste'] and Lamond Robinson split carries, kept fresh legs and started putting the U-High defense on its heels with effective tempo in the second and third quarters in particular. Miles also showed his increasingly effective handling of wildcat opportunities with both his recognition and directing of blockers and a well-executed jump-pass for a goal-line touchdown. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1801742' first='Jackson' last='Shaw'] — 6-6, 230 EDGE/DL — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1356164' first='Jayden' last='Vessell'] — 6-2, 200 EDGE — Catholic (Baton Rouge) (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The junior defensive end duo managed to get upfield throughout the night to bring pressure from the edge, while typically also keeping the Cubs' ball-carriers and quarterbacks contained from slipping by them to the outside. The Bears were stout and sound at every level, and Shaw and Vessell were able to keep the offense out of rhythm and at times sped up and scrambling.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212343' first='Lamar' last='Brown'] — 6-4, 295 DL/ATH — University Lab (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The future LSU defensive lineman made a few plays at and behind the line of scrimmage with his explosiveness and quickness on the Cubs' front. And on offense, Brown also got a chance to showcase some of his athleticism in snaps as an H-back in addition to guard, a role that allows more versatility as the team tries tries to run behind him to either side of the formation. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401981' first='Sage' last='Ingram'] — 6-0, 190 RB — University Lab (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The night was tough sledding for the Cubs' offense until late, but a few of their bigger plays early came on solid runs from their senior back and his junior partner-in-crime at the position, [player_tooltip player_id='1752149' first='Corbin' last='Odell']. The duo took care of the ball, managed a couple first downs and set up a couple manageable downs-and-distances. The Catholic defense just played too well to allow those successes to be consistent enough to sustain many drives. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Charlie Pettit — 6-4, 230 TE — University Lab (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The big tight end finally got the Cubs into the end zone with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown catches from [player_tooltip player_id='710985' first='Ethan' last='McGlynn'] on which he showed strong, reliable hands and good awareness and footwork to make the plays along the sideline and through some contact. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->