The Saint Joseph Seminary Ravens met the Notre Dame Hunchbacks in their 86th annual bonfire / football game held at the Saint Joseph Seminary football field on 18 November. The traditional event, hosted to promote solidarity and unity between the two seminaries, resulted in a Hunchback victory by a score of 32-26.

The 2011 Hunchback coach, Charles Dussouy, attributed the win to their rusher, Antoine Pham: "He made your quarterback uncomfortable throughout the game. Our special play was a run around, so Ben's couldn't catch us. We were much faster." He continued, "we put the trophy in our lobby at first, and right now it's in our refectory. We thank Saint Ben's for their great hospitality, the bonfire was huge, and we really enjoyed it."

The coaches for the 2011 Raven team were seniors Joey Dunbar and Brian Phillips. Ravens coach Joey Dunbar said, "We didn't capitalize on the opportunities to score in the first half. We had some trouble finding out ways to stop their offense. In the end, we couldn't catch up with the two-touchdown deficit. Joe Boustany had a long touchdown, he outran their defense; Branson Cambre had a great catch and run for a touchdown. On defense, everyone gave a great effort and they all contributed to making good plays. We were just out played. It seemed like they made the plays when they had to, and we didn't. They had a great game plan, they were ready for us, they had a great strategy. They haven't won in four years, and they were hungry."

When asked why he thought we lost, Brian Phillips said, "our inability to contain Notre Dame's quick quarterback; they comprised several Saint Ben's alumni and they were veterans from past bonfires. We were a fairly young team. We practiced a lot, we just got beat. Perhaps this will increase the intensity level of next year's game, now that the trophy has shifted; Saint Ben's will be ready to reclaim the title next year. I'll be at Saint Mary's Seminary in Houston, so I'll be keeping tabs from there.

The game, which is traditionally held the Friday before Thanksgiving break, began with a short day of classes in the morning. Mass was celebrated at 2 p.m., with guest celebrant Fr. Gregory and homilist Deacon Kyle Sanders, '06, from the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Following Mass, the students and fans assembled on the field and Notre Dame President-Rector Jose Lavastida opened the game with a prayer at 3:30. Notre Dame brought in their own professional referees. Saint Ben's seminarians Trey Ange and Stephen Gadbury and Notre Dame's Matthew Graham, '11, announced the play-by-play and color commentaries.

The two schools then gathered for evening prayer in the refectory, followed by a feast of jambalaya provided by seminarian J.D. Matherne's family and bar-b-que from the Knights of Columbus Council from Wynne, Ark. At 7:15, the seminarians processed to the bonfire with torches held aloft by the senior class, which was blessed by Notre Dame Spiritual Director Joe Palermo and ignited by the class of 2012.

The bonfire this year was handsome again, stacked into a pyramid shape that resembled the Egyptian pyramids. It was 33 feet, 5 inches high. Credit for the outstanding job goes to Brian Phillips and Stephen Gadberry, who organized the school-wide construction of the bonfire last year as well.