The Brother Martin-Jesuit rugby state final stayed close until the winner pulled away at the end

Brother Martin kept Jesuit from scoring in the second half of a 22-10 victory that earned the Crusaders a Louisiana Rugby high school championship Wednesday at the Shrine on Airline.

Maverick Trimble, Bronson Perez, Nathan Blount and Blake Cordova each brought the ball across the goal line for a try that was worth five points each, and J.D. Ward kicked a conversion through the uprights that was worth two points.

Brother Martin scored the first try and never trailed. Perez scored off a feed from Cameron Coughlin for the try that broke a tie and put Brother Martin ahead 12-7 before halftime.

Coughlin, a senior, was selected as the most valuable player for his contributions while playing the scrum-half position, which is likened to being a quarterback.

Brother Martin, which led 12-10 at the break, won after it lost the past three state championship matches to Jesuit. Brother Martin scored its final try with just minutes remaining.

“It was nice to see the boys so happy,” said Brother Martin coach Gary Giepert, a 1980 graduate who has been the coach since he helped his alma mater start a rugby program in 2002.