Rummel Powers Through to Quarterfinals, Eyes Redemption Against Catholic High
by: Mike Strom // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
METAIRIE, La. — Do not be misled by the final score.
Rummel coach Nick Monica was not.
Yes, Rummel advanced to the Division I Select state quarterfinals in football Friday night courtesy of a sloppily-played 50-25 regional victory against McDonogh 35 at Joe Yenni Stadium that earned the fifth-seeded Raiders a rematch next week against reigning state champion Catholic of Baton Rouge on the road.
But should the Raiders not clean up their act and in short order, expect the results to be dramatically different?
“You know it’s win or go home,’’ Monica said of his post-game discussion with his team. “You don’t get any second chances. If you play like this next week, you’re done. It won’t end well.’’
The Raiders are scheduled to make their fifth trip in seven years to Baton Rouge to face Catholic in the playoffs and have a 0-4 report card to show for it, including most recently, a 28-16 loss to the Bears from District 4-5A in last year’s state semifinals.
Kickoff against the No. 4 seeded Bears is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at BREC Memorial Stadium. Catholic defeated No. 13 East Jefferson, 42-0, Friday night at BREC Memorial.
“We have to go to that dark hole again,’’ Monica said. “Bad things have happened up there. We haven’t won up there for starters. I know we’ve lost the last four up there in the last six years. We’ve had bad weather. It always seems to be some type of controversy or something that seems to go along with it.
“But for the most part, they are tight games. It usually ends up coming down to a few plays. We anticipate it being like that again. But it is what it is. We’ll be ready to play.’’
Rummel (9-2) certainly came out firing early against the 12th-seeded Roneagles, despite having an opening bye in last week’s bi-district round. The Raiders bolted a 12-0 first-quarter lead that they expanded to 22-7 by intermission before matters began unraveling in the third period.
Suddenly clinging to a 29-19 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third, the Raiders responded by turning to their running game and defense. Both delivered.
Running back Norman Taylor rushed for the final two of his four touchdowns in those closing 16 minutes while safety Peyton Depolitte recorded the second of his two second-half interceptions that both resulted in Rummel touchdowns to douse any McDonogh 35 hopes for an upset.
Photo Courtesy: Rusty Costanza, Rummel Raiders Yearbook Staff
Taylor ran 17 times for a game-high 178 yards with touchdown runs of 2, 6, 13, and 49 yards to pace a 221-yard rushing attack which produced six touchdowns on the ground while Depolitte and ends Fred Banks, Jacoby Dunn, and Greg Jones keyed a defensive charge that helped the Raiders win for the fifth time in their last six outings. Rummel’s only blemish in those six games was a 69-28 District 9-5A loss to top-ranked Karr in both teams’ regular-season finale.
Quarterback Generald Buggage and reserve running back Jaden Terrance each additionally rushed for touchdowns covering 3 and 8 yards respectively while place-kicker Robert Vargas kicked field goals of 35 and 20 yards to go with a perfect 5-for-5 on PATs.
Buggage completed 7 of 11 passes for 134 yards without being intercepted or throwing for a touchdown in addition to finishing second in rushing behind Taylor with 3 carries good for 32 yards and the aforementioned 3-yard quarterback sneak for Rummel’s first touchdown.
Defensively, the Raiders limited the Roneagles to 32 yards rushing while allowing 239 passing yards to quarterback Camdan Braxton, who completed 17 of 30 attempts with an 18-yard scoring pass to junior wide receiver Aliyah Jackson for McDonogh 35’s final touchdown. Braxton was intercepted twice by Depolitte.
The burly Braxton also rushed for two touchdowns covering 1 yard apiece to go with an 8-yard scoring run by wide receiver Jakai Anderson operating out of the shotgun as a Wildcat quarterback. Jackson had a game-high six receptions good for 87 receiving yards and the 18-yard touchdown catch from Braxton.
Anderson totaled four receptions good for 75 yards before being ejected by game officials on the penultimate play of the third quarter with Rummel leading, 36-19. Anderson was called for a pair of dead ball, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called on the same play, and a leaping and acrobatic 39-yard reception from Braxton.
Anderson initially was flagged for spinning the football on the ground in celebration after the catch that carried from McDonogh 35’s 16-yard line to Rummel’s 45. The 30 yards in penalties set the Roneagles back to their own 23-yard line prompting McDonogh 35 coach Frank Daggs to call a timeout and take exception with the call.
Daggs said Anderson was ejected for allegedly tossing the football at an official after spinning the ball on the ground.
‘Come on. Nobody tried to throw a ball at you.’’’ I said (to the officials),
The calls stood and so did McDonogh 35’s unraveling as Depolitte ended the drive with his first interception that set in motion Rummel’s three-play scoring drive in which Taylor raced 49 yards virtually untouched to put the Raiders ahead, 43-19, with 8:23 remaining.
Terrance then scored Rummel’s final touchdown on an 8-yard run that increased the advantage to 50-19 with 5:55 remaining before the Roneagles answered with the game’s final score from Braxton to Jackson.
“We played very sloppy,’’ Monica said. “One of our concerns coming in was just coming off the bye week. The first quarter I thought we were fabulous. I thought we started the game off really well scoring and then getting a three-and-out. Getting forced into a safety. Kicking a field goal.
“Everything was fine in the first quarter. Then we kind of took our foot off of the gas and things got kind of sloppy with penalties and poor execution on both sides.’’
Both sides were guilty of numerous penalties, collaborating on a combined 25 infractions totaling 226 yards in lost yardage, that plagued an otherwise cool and crisp evening ideal for playoff football. The Raiders were called for 11 penalties totaling 111 yards while the Roneagles earned 14 infractions totaling 115 yards.
McDonogh 35 (7-4) additionally committed three turnovers, two interceptions, and a lost fumble, while fumbling one other time. The District 10-4A champions had a four-game winning streak broken that included an impressive 49-9 bi-district playoff victory against Riverdale a week ago. The Roneagles entered having won seven of their previous eight games.
“We played hard. We tried to pull it out. That’s it. That’s all I can say,’’ Daggs said. “(Rummel is) real good. Coach Monica does a good job with them. They’re a good team. We messed up on some things that we had to try to capitalize on. After the half, we come out and throw an interception. There it is right there. The first half we came out sleep-walking. We had to battle back from that.’’
Rummel scored the first 12 points via Buggage’s 3-yard touchdown run, a Robert Vargas field goal covering 35 yards, and a special teams safety recorded when McDonogh 35 sustained a low fumbled punt snap that Rummel wide receiver Micah Green forced punter Chasson Collins to recover in the end zone.
The Raiders increased their advantage to 19-0 when running back Taylor capped a 4-play, 41-yard drive following the safety with a 2-yard touchdown run and Vargas added his second PAT kick.
McDonogh 35 answered with a 7-play, 74-yard drive culminated by a 3-yard quarterback sneak by Braxton and Collins’ PAT kick. Braxton completed 3 of 4 passes on the drive good for 69 yards.
Vargas completed the first-half scoring with a 20-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining before intermission good for a 22-7 lead. The field goal finished a 7-play 59-yard possession highlighted by a 45-yard completion from Buggage to Green.
“I think what happened is our offense answered a little bit and then we got a couple of key interceptions and turnovers that allowed us to the extend the game and make it a little more comfortable,’’ Monica said. “But in the middle of the third quarter, we’re looking up and it’s a 10-point game. We weren’t happy with the way we were playing.’’
The penalties, Monica said, were “part of the sloppiness. We had a bunch of holding calls. We’ll have to go back and look at it. I don’t know if we were being lazy with our feet. That and just some bad things on defense, some minor things that we’ve been good at all year. Tackling, setting edges, gap integrity, things like that. We weren’t very good at it tonight.’’
Monica expects a much sharper performance in Baton Rouge against a team that compares very favorably to a Catholic League that advanced six of its eight members to the state playoffs, with No. 1 Karr, No. 5 Rummel, No. 9 St. Augustine, and No. 11 Jesuit securing four of the top 11 seeds.
“It’s like a district game for us,’’ Monica said. “They would fit in very easily in the Catholic League with the style and physicality that they play. So we’re going to go in there and prepare for another district contest.’’
RUMMEL 50, McDONOGH 35 25
McDonogh 35 0 7 12 6 — 25
Rummel 12 10 14 14 — 50
M35 RUM
First downs 14 18
Rushing 32 221
Passing 239 132
Total offense 271 353
Passes 17-30-2 7-11-0
Punts 2-30.5 1-32.0
Fumbles/lost 2-1 3-1
Penalties 14-115 11-111
SCORING:
R: Generald Buggage Jr. 3 run (Robert Vargas kick).
R: Robert Vargas 35 field goal.
R: Micah Green forced a safety on a McDonogh 35 fumbled punt snap that was recovered in the end zone.
R: Norman Taylor 2 run (Robert Vargas kick).
M: Camdan Braxton 1 run (No. 35 kick).
R: Robert Vargas 20 field goal.
R: Norman Taylor 6 run (Robert Vargas kick).
M: Camdan Braxton 1 run (Kick blocked).
M: Jakai Anderson 8 run (Run failed).
R: Norman Taylor 13 run (Robert Vargas kick).
R: Norman Taylor 49 run (Robert Vargas kick).
R: Jaden Terrance 8 run (Adrian Rodriguez kick).
M: Aliyah Jackson 18 pass from Camdan Braxton (Run failed).