The two rookies helped the Lafayette-based Hurricanes capture the Texas/Louisiana Southwestern Football Association championship on May 31 with a 10-3 victory over the defending champion Louisiana Survivors at Pearland Stadium south of Houston.
Jacob, a graduate of New Iberia Senior High School, was a running back, kick returner and receiver for the Hurricanes this season after spending three years with the Lafayette Bayou Bulls, a member of the Southern American Football League.
  
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“Last year we went to championship game and lost against the same team,” said Hurricanes coach Damon Taylor. “The addition of a couple of guys, those two guys and a couple of other guys, made us a lot better team.”
Jacob started the season off with a 170-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 39-15 rout of the Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Eagles in the season opener at St. Thomas More. Though he sustained a deep thigh bruise that slowed him for much of the rest of the season, Jacob remained a key contributer to the Hurricanes’ efforts.
“That had me lagging,” said Jacob. “I wasn’t 100 percent throughout the season.”
Taylor said that going from last summer’s Bayou Bulls season straight into the Hurricanes season that started with practice and began with the first game on March 1 played a role in the nagging injury.
“He kind of got depressed by (the injury),” said Taylor. “You’ve got to remember, he came through two whole seasons. He played in the fall and in the spring. He played a big part in our offense.”
The Hurricanes went unbeaten through the first 11 games of the season, including a pair of forfeit wins, before falling to the Dallas Knights in the regular-season finale, 24-7.
“This year, we were a team that could throw on you or run on you,” said Taylor. “We had five running backs. We had one that had close to 700 yards rushing. Jordan had maybe two or three hundred on the season. We had over 1,400 yards passing but I think we were pretty balanced.
“That was (the key to staying unbeaten). What was different on our team from a lot of other teams is, we do so many things. Because of our talent, we can do so many different things.”
Fusilier said that the final-game loss to Dallas was a wakeup call for the Hurricanes.
“The loss to Dallas in the last game of the season humbled us and got us refocused,” he said. “That was the worst thing for the league. We were getting cocky and arrogant, thinking nobody could beat us. It refocused us for the playoffs.”
Jacob said that after high school he wanted to keep playing football and was in and out of college for a couple of years before starting semi-pro football. After playing for the Bayou Bulls, he had offers to play in the Arena Football League, but when Taylor recruited him, decided he liked the opportunity with the Hurricanes better.
“Jordan played for another semi-pro team, and he was the guy they gave ball to a whole lot,” the coach said. “He was pretty much the whole team. He joined four running backs that were on our team even before he joined the team. They all have different things (to contribute). Jordan has that change of direction. We brought him in to be that big play back.”
Fusilier caught Taylor’s eye during camp in October.
“He was a great athlete,” said Taylor. “He was jumping, making big grabs over veteran cornerbacks in camp. He showed he was ready to play in camp. He actually brought an aspect to our game (a vertical passing attack) that we didn’t have last year.”
Fusilier became the team’s big-play receiver, with 22 catches and 13 touchdowns overall. In eight regular season games, he had 699 yards and 10 TDs. He also caught an eight-yard pass with a couple of minutes remaining in the third quarter of the championship game to give the Hurricanes the lead over the defending champion Louisiana Survivors, based in Kenner. The Survivors had beaten the Hurricanes 13-7 in last year’s championship game.
“They wanted me to come up with big plays,” said Fusilier. “Whenever I got the opportunity, I had to catch the ball.”
Outside of the touchdown catch, the championship game was a defensive struggle.
“It was exciting, sort of like an NFL atmosphere,” said Jacob. “It was a tight game. They kicked a field goal (in the first half), and we kicked a field goal, then we scored the touchdown.
“It went all the way down to the wire. They got the ball on the 40, and with nine seconds left it was fourth down on the 15-year line. We stopped them right there and that was the ballgame.”
“Our defense was incredible this year,” said Taylor. “(The finals) was the first game that all three aspects of the game, offense, defense and special teams, came in and played together.
“At halftime we were down 3-0. Special teams came down and tied game up with a 35-yard field goal. That was huge. Last year that was something we didn’t have. The 35-yard field goal was not even in our arsenal. Then it was the offense’s turn. Donald fusilier caught the TD pass that put us up 10-3. So all three aspects played a huge role.”
“It was the two best teams,” Fusilier said. “It was a defensive battle. I felt we could’ve put up more points, but we got the ‘W,’ that’s all that matters.”
Whether the Hurricanes will be able to defend their title remains to be seen. Many of the players will move on to other opportunities, either in college ” some, like Fusilier, have never played collegiately and are still eligible ” or in another league like the Canadian Football League or the Arena Football League.
Fusilier and Jacob may themselves be elsewhere next season, but that’s all part of the role that the Hurricanes see for themselves, helping develop players and give them the chance to move on to other opportunities.
“We always, every year, don’t expect to keep the roster,” said Taylor. “Our goal is to take people like Donald Fusilier and move them to the next level. We try to develop those guys and move them on.”
Fusilier is in the process of putting together a highlight film to show around to coaches at the college and pro level.
“I’m just waiting to see,” he said. “I have some people talking to me but I need get the film out there.
“Right now I have an aunt who lives in Texas, who works with a lady whose son coaches for the (AFL’s) New York Dragons. She’s supposed to give him my highlight film. I’m planning on trying out for the New Orleans VooDoo (also of the AFL). I had a good game when we lost in Dallas, and a guy there knows the coach of the (AFL’s) Orlando Predators, and a coach for a college in Texas.
“I really don’t have a preference (arena football or college). Arena is more of an offensive game. If I go to college, I want go to a team that’s going to get me the ball.”
Jacob is looking to try out for the CFL or AFL.
“We’ve got some guys who are signing scholarships right now,” said Jacob. “They came in right after high school.
“At this point, the organization gave me chance where can go try out for the CFL and AFL. I will get my thigh better, then try compete to get better.”
It’s all part of the Hurricanes’ plan to keep adding young players with the hope of getting them experience and exposure to move on to bigger and better things, said Taylor.
“We’ve got a few guys from Westgate, coming out of high school, inquiring about the team,” said the coach. “Those young guys get chance to come on the team, do their thing, and look at different colleges. We do a lot of film.”
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