A year ago, Jesuit went 31-0 and rolled through the state playoffs, winning the state title with five consecutive 2-0 wins.

By Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Jesuit head coach Hubie Collins goes over the Blue Jays' gameplan for Tuesday's Division I playoff game at St. Thomas More.

Now, in 2008, things aren’t so simple and easy. The Blue Jays have dropped two games and tied four. But they’re still in contention for another Division I title.

Only, this time, they’ll have to go through a team that already has beaten them.

Barring severe weather, Jesuit will play at St. Thomas More in Lafayette Tuesday evening. It’s a winner-take-all rubber match that will end the season for one team and keep the dream of a state championship alive for the other.

Jesuit defeated More 1-0 in the Bayou Invitational in Dutchtown in November. More repaid the Blue Jays with a 3-1 defeat in Fort Worth’s Viking Cup Invitational, also in November.

“This team and this school in general in every sport, we expect to be getting to the semifinals and finals every year,” Jesuit head coach Hubie Collins said. “I know the players would be disappointed if they don’t get through this round.”

To get there, Collins will rely on a junior keeper and a sophomore forward to get the Blue Jays one win from the title game.

The forward is Patrick Mullins, one of the bright spots on a team full of talent. He’s a member of the regional Olympic Development Program team, and will travel to Spain at the end of the month for some international friendlies.

He also is one of the team’s goal-scoring leaders on a team that has scored 85 goals through 27 games.

“He’s naturally a left-footed player, but he’s not afraid to bring the ball inside and shoot with the right foot,” Collins said. “He’s very good in the air. He’s a very good reader of the game. He really means a lot.”

He added, “Patrick having a good game is going to be key to us having a victory (Tuesday). He plays a wide position for us, he’s able to get down the line, he has got great pace and he’s able to serve the ball well.”

It’s the ODP training, Mullins said, that has made playing for Jesuit somewhat easy.

“The level of play with those players up there is at a level you can’t get anywhere else,” Mullins said. “Down here, it’s a lot slower and it’s just unreal.”

But he isn’t really into promoting himself. He’s worried about only one thing right now.

“Last time we played them, we lost,” Mullins said. “I think that’ll definitely put us through because we want it a lot.”

Jesuit can’t and won’t rely on just one player, however. It’ll have to keep More out of goal. Easier said than done as through two playoff games, More has scored eight goals.

That task falls to Evan Keller. Collins isn’t worried.

“He’s very good on set pieces, very good on one-v-ones and he gives a good confidence to the team,” Collins said. “He’s going to have to come up with a big save at some point. They’re going to have an opportunity (Tuesday) and it’s going to be a close game and he’s going to have to come up with a save.”

Weather it storms or not, Collins said the key to the game will be how Jesuit comes out and plays. If it’s on its game, it could be hard to stop Jesuit.

“One of the x-factors is the weather condition is not supposed to be favorable,” Collins said. “We can’t control that. But what we can control is we set the tone, we set the pace, we set the tempo of what we’re trying to do and have them chasing us in the game. Hopefully we can get an early lead and have them chasing us.”