Drew Brees is coming back to New Orleans – for one game.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback serves as the passing game coordinator for Santa Fe Christian, which travels from California to the Crescent City to face the Newman Greenies on Thursday.
Brees has three sons — Baylen, Bowen and Callen — in the Santa Fe Christian program.
The trio attended Newman when Brees played for the Saints.
“Obviously, with Drew Brees on the Santa Fe Christian sideline, there will be some tricky offensive concepts that will be tough to defend,” said Spencer Urquhart, a staff prep sportswriter with The New Orleans Advocate. “But Newman has some quality defensive players, especially in the secondary.”
The Eagles (3-0) are led by quarterback Dax Labrum (6-foot-3, 195 pounds), a senior Cornell commit who has thrown for 811 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions.
Baylen Brees, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound senior, has six touches for 30 yards. He wears jersey No. 4, while Bowen (6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Soph.) is No. 82. Callen is a freshman for the Eagles, who only list 10th through 12th-graders on their 76-man varsity roster.
Santa Fe Christian’s campus is in Solona Beach, a small city (population 13,000) located 22 miles north of San Diego.
Newman (1-0), which played its first game in Texas, debuted at No. 10 this week in the LSWA Class 2A poll.
“Newman is solid on both sides of the ball,” Urquhart said of the Greenies, who defeated St. John’s (Houston) 33-32 behind quarterback Ren Guidry’s 230 yards passing and five touchdowns.
“Guidry has taken full control after a battle for the starting job. Newman has good skill players, led by Hendrix Hill, who caught three touchdowns last week,”
Hill (5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Sr.), the son of former LSU player Eric Hill, has offers from Baylor, Washington State, Oregon State and Sacramento State.
“Newman, which is replacing Tulane signee Jake Randle, has a quality running back in Tanner Robert,” Urquhart said.
Robert played on Newman’s state champion baseball team. The gridiron Greenies are ranked No. 28 in Louisiana by MaxPreps. Sophomore running back Jayce Irving (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) is another player to watch for Newman, which handed St. John’s its first defeat after the Mavericks began the season 2-0.
Last year, Newman lost its first two games against programs that went on to win state titles – St. Charles Catholic and Riverside Academy – before reeling off seven straight wins ahead of a 48-22 loss to another state champ, Dunham, in the playoffs.
Thursday’s game will bring Brees back to the city where he spent 15 seasons with the Saints, won Super Bowl XLIV and became one of the most celebrated athletes in New Orleans sports history.
It will also bring his sons back to a familiar campus. Baylen, Bowen and Callen attended Newman during their father’s time with the Saints before the family eventually moved to California.
This time, Brees will return to New Orleans not as the Saints quarterback, but as a high school assistant trying to help Santa Fe Christian remain unbeaten.
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