Brees, SFC win in return to Louisiana

By Ramon Scott
Updated: September 11, 2026

Baylen (left) and Drew Brees on Thursday in New Orleans, La.

2026 PREP FOOTBALL

HOMECOMING ROUT: BREES SCORES TWICE AS SANTA FE CHRISTIAN ROLLS IN NEW ORLEANS

Eagles answer Newman’s opening touchdown with 41 consecutive points in a memorable Louisiana homecoming

From staff and wire reports

NEW ORLEANS (9-10-26) — Baylen Brees returned to the city he once called home Thursday night and produced two touchdowns — one with his arm and another with his hands — as unbeaten fourth-ranked Santa Fe Christian overwhelmed Isidore Newman, 41-7, at Michael Lupin Field.

With his father, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, helping direct the offense as SFC’s passing-game coordinator, the senior receiver threw a touchdown on a trick play and later caught another as the Eagles scored 41 unanswered points.

It was far more than another stop on Santa Fe Christian’s schedule.

Baylen attended Newman as a child while his father was building a Hall of Fame career with the New Orleans Saints. Several of the Greenies on the opposite sideline Thursday were his former classmates, childhood friends and youth flag-football teammates.

For four quarters, however, the sentimental homecoming became another commanding performance by an SFC team that improved to 4-0.

Newman (1-1) struck first when quarterback Ren Guidry connected with Thomas Smallpage for a touchdown. The Greenies used play action to draw the linebackers forward before Guidry delivered the pass over the second level.

It was Newman’s only score.

Santa Fe Christian answered in the first quarter when Baylen Brees turned a sweep to the right into a 25-yard touchdown pass.

Brees pulled up and delivered a low throw to Jake Squires, who reached down to secure the ball and dived across the goal line for the touchdown. The trick play tied the game 7-all, and the Eagles carried a 21-7 lead into halftime on their way to scoring 41 consecutive points.

The moment carried an unmistakable New Orleans connection. Drew Brees threw 491 regular-season touchdown passes for the Saints, with another 37 in the playoffs. On Thursday, his oldest son added a high school touchdown pass in the same city.

Brees struck again in the second half, although this score required some good fortune.

Quarterback Dax Labrum rolled out near the Newman goal line and fired a pass into the end zone. The ball glanced off a Greenies defender and landed in the hands of Brees for the touchdown that extended the Eagles’ lead to 41-7.

“It’s a great feeling,” Baylen Brees told Varsity Sports Network after the game. “I just feel like being back here is all glory to God.

“Two touchdowns, that just comes from hard work. I feel like everyone on the team did really well. It was just unreal. Every time I was in, just looking up to the sky, knowing that I grew up here, I went here, this is my home.”

Santa Fe Christian entered the game having outscored its first three opponents 150-20. The Eagles continued that early-season surge against Newman, recovering from the game’s opening score and taking complete control on the road.

The matchup had been discussed for nearly a year and brought together families and players whose relationships stretch back to their earliest days in New Orleans.

Drew Brees said Newman retained a special place in his family’s life. His children attended the school during his years with the Saints, and Baylen played youth flag football with several of Thursday’s Greenies.

“Honestly, this is something that’s been in the works for a while,” Drew Brees said before the game. “Certainly, a thought like, wouldn’t that be cool if we could bring our high school team from Southern California out here to play Newman?”

The Eagles practiced Wednesday at the New Orleans Saints’ indoor facility, where Brees worked with SFC’s quarterbacks and receivers in the building where he helped construct one of the greatest passing careers in NFL history.

The Louisiana trip was designed to include much more than football. The Eagles also visited the National World War II Museum and were scheduled to tour the Louisiana swamps, attend an LSU game, volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank and gather for a Saints watch party.

Still, Thursday night’s game supplied the centerpiece — particularly for Baylen, who had dreamed of returning to play beneath the lights against boys he once considered teammates and still calls friends.

“When I found out he was going to start helping call the plays, I was so happy just knowing that we get to be a part of something greater than just football,” Baylen said of his father. “Watching him grow up here, and then he gets to coach me — it’s like the greatest gift I could ever have.”

The Eagles brought a piece of San Diego football to New Orleans. Then, after falling behind 7-0, they brought 41 consecutive points with it.