Rummel Rolls Past Jesuit, Sets up Showdown with Karr

by: Mike Strom // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

METAIRIE, La. — Finally … a breather.

And one the state-ranked Rummel Raiders were not expecting.

After playing all of their first eight games into the fourth quarter before a winner could be determined, the Raiders finally were able to take a deep breath, exploding for three second-quarter touchdowns during a dominant first half that paved the way for a 42-7 District 9-5A win against Jesuit Friday night at the Shrine on Airline.

Running backs Norman Taylor and Coryan Hawkins combined for five rushing touchdowns while freshman linebacker Kingsley Barconey returned an interception 40 yards for a second-quarter touchdown to propel the Raiders into a Catholic League championship showdown next week against top-ranked Karr, the reigning district champions.

Eighth-ranked Rummel (8-1 overall, 5-1 in District 9-5A) won its fourth consecutive outing since sustaining a 17-13 loss to Brother Martin over a month ago while Karr (8-0 overall, 6-0 in District 9-5A) defeated John Curtis, 35-14, Friday night at Morris Jeff Stadium in Algiers.

“It’s another big game for us,’’ Rummel coach Nick Monica said of Karr, which defeated the Raiders, 39-31, last season. “We’ve played nine of them already. We’re just going to focus on what we can control, which is our game plan and our practice (repetitions). We’re going to be prepared and have our kids ready to go, but we don’t want to over-think this thing and make it bigger than what it is.’’

Rummel certainly was not looking ahead in entering the Jesuit game ranked No. 8 in the state in Class 5A by both geauxpreps.com and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in addition to owning the No. 6 power rating among Division I Select teams compiled by geauxpreps.com

Unranked Jesuit (5-4 overall, 3-3 in District 9-5A) entered with a No. 9 power rating among Division I Select teams after having won two of its previous three outings, including an impressive 17-10 victory against then state-ranked John Curtis last week in which the Blue Jays scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. One week earlier, the Blue Jays had extended Karr into the fourth period of an eventual 21-9 defeat.

Not this time, however.

Not with Taylor accounting for 108 of Rummel’s 249 rushing yards and scoring three touchdowns on runs of 3, 10, and 44 yards. Not with Hawkins adding an additional 52 rushing yards and two touchdowns via runs of 1 and 9 yards.

More paramount was the Raiders smothering defense that limited the Blue Jays to six first downs, 27 yards rushing, and 109 total over two halves that were nearly identical statistically. The Raiders allowed only 19 rushing yards and 54 yards total in a first half that ended 28-0 in Rummel’s favor.

Rummel’s defense produced four turnovers with two interceptions and two fumbles while forcing four fumbles. The interceptions were recorded by freshman linebacker Kingsley Barconey Jr. and sophomore cornerback Mitchell Harris Jr.

“(The media) kind of did that for us,’’ Monica said through a smile when asked about the defense’s prowess. “We heard all week how good Jesuit’s defense was and (Rummel’s defensive players) didn’t like that. So, thank you.’’

Rummel’s defense scored the fourth and final touchdown of the first half when Barconey returned the first of two Blue Jays interceptions 40 yards for a touchdown and Robert Vargas followed with the fourth of six successful PAT kicks with one minute, 34 seconds remaining until intermission.

Taylor and Hawkins had rushed for touchdowns covering 3, 1, and 10 yards in accounting for Rummel’s first three scores. Two of those Raider’s first-half scoring drives covering 46 and 39 yards were set in motion by fumble recoveries by Rummel’s defense.

Jesuit scored its lone touchdown via special teams late in the third period when linebacker Wyatt Mire blocked a Rummel punt and sophomore linebacker Christian Hebert scooped up the football to race 29 yards for the score. Ethan Cabos then kicked the PAT to trim Rummel’s advantage to 28-7.

The Raiders scored their final two touchdowns on short drives of 36 and 44 yards that Hawkins and Taylor culminated with runs of 9 and 44 yards. The first drive of 36 yards was set up by a short Jesuit punt after the Blue Jays were pinned inside their 15-yard line. Jesuit had turned Rummel back on downs to gain possession. The second scoring drive took just one play after Harris’ interception and return of 16 yards.

“That was nice,’’ Monica said of a game that did not prove to be a nail-biter. “I’ll take that. We did not expect this. We talked all week about it being a four-quarter game. We anticipated that. We just got after them pretty good tonight.’’

Hawkins’ 108 yards and three touchdowns came via 15 carries while Hawkins rushed 12 times for his 52 yards and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Generald Buggage Jr. was another key element in Rummel’s offensive surge by accounting for 144 of the team’s 318 yards with his running and passing. Buggage rushed for 75 yards on eight carries while completing 5 of 15 passes for 69 yards and no touchdowns without being intercepted.

“It was an impressive win from start to finish,’’ Monica said. “Outside of the blocked punt, I thought we played a near-perfect game. There is always stuff that you can improve on, but against a really good (Jesuit) team, I thought they presented a ton of challenges going into the game that we were really concerned about. The fact that we got after them pretty good, I’m really proud of our kids.’’

Quarterback Taylor Norton was Jesuit’s top offensive player with 82 passing yards, but no touchdowns as the Blue Jays passer completed only 7 of 22 attempts while being intercepted twice. Tailback Gavin Palmisano gained only 28 yards on 14 carries.

“This is a learning lesson,’’ Jesuit coach Ryan Manale said. “I’ll find out a lot about our leaders. It snowballed fast on us. We’ve been playing very clean, pretty good football. Tonight, (Rummel) took it to us. That’s the bottom line.

“They took it to us. And as much as we were wanting to go, this league is very tough week in, week out, week in, week out. We were playing well and we’ve got to learn how to sustain that success. We have to learn how to be consistent.

“We’ve been consistent for most of this year and tonight … it happens. They got us. Hats off to Coach Monica and his staff and that football team because they played some really good football tonight.’’

It actually took much of the first quarter before Rummel got untracked offensively enough to take advantage of a pair of possession-changing plays by the Raiders defense that got the train rolling toward a 28-0 lead by intermission.

Rummel defensive ends Fred Banks and Greg Jones collaborated to recover a Jesuit fumble at the Blue Jays’ 46-yard line and set in motion a seven-play drive culminated by the first of two Taylor scoring runs. Taylor’s 3-yard run off the left side and the first of four successful PAT kicks by Robert Vargas gave Rummel a 7-0 lead with two minutes, and 56 seconds remaining in the opening period.

Buggage and wide receiver Jay’lan Ash started the drive with a 22-yard completion that the Raiders followed with six consecutive running plays.

Hawkins then ran 1 yard to score Rummel’s second touchdown and cap an 8-play, 67-yard possession. Buggage accounted for all but the final yard with his passing and running.

Rummel’s final two touchdowns of the opening half came via a 10-yard run by Taylor ignited by a Jesuit fumble while attempting to punt and Barconey’s 40-yard interception return.

“Offensively, we did a great job of staying within the chains,’’ Monica said. “It made some third downs manageable which we need to do. It keeps our run game alive. G (Buggage) was really good tonight. I thought by far that this was his best game of the season, both decision-making, running the football and then he threw the ball really well and he had some drops that didn’t help him out. But he was great.

“I think the offense would like to finish a couple of drives, but overall they were really good. And our defense was lights out.’’

“The biggest thing we talk about is taking care of the football,’’ Manale said. “That’s one of the things we kind of pride ourselves in. The first drive we’re kind of moving (the ball) just a little bit and we fumble. We give them a short field. They took advantage of it. They took advantage of us and they made plays, so you’ve got to give them (credit). They really dominated us after that. We had chances. We just played poorly.

“We have to get back to the drawing board, but hats off to Coach Monica and his staff and his players for beating us soundly tonight. For us, we have a lot of things and film to go back and work on and flush (the loss) and see what kind of leadership we have.’’

Rummel completes Catholic League and regular-season play next Thursday against Karr scheduled for 7 p.m. at Morris Jeff Stadium in Algiers. Jesuit completes District 9-5A play against Warren Easton next Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff scheduled for Tad Gormley Stadium.

“Of course, it’s a special deal,’’ Monica said of a season in which the Raiders have flourished after being picked to finish third in the Catholic League behind Karr and John Curtis. “This is the best district in the state of Louisiana, if not the country, as far as its depth and you have to show up every week. I’m really, really proud of where we are and how we got here.

“This is the only game that we’ve won all year that wasn’t a fourth-quarter, grind-it-out type of victory. So I’m really just proud of how we got here and just to have the opportunity we have next week is great. We’re not going to emphasize it too much.

“We’re going to get back to work and do what we’re best at, which is keep our eyes down and focus on what’s in front of us. And not overthink this.’’

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RUMMEL 42, JESUIT 7

Rummel         7  21  0  14 —  42

Jesuit              0   0   7   0 —    7

                                    RUM              JES    

First downs                 13                    6

Rushing                       249                  27

Passing                        69                    82

Total offense               318                  109

Passes                         5-15-0             7-22-2

Punts                           2-28.0              3-32.7

Fumbles/lost                0-0                   4-2

Penalties                      1-5                   1-5

SCORING:

R: Norman Taylor 3 run (Robert Vargas kick).

R: Coryan Hawkins 1 run (Robert Vargas kick).

R: Norman Taylor 10 run (Robert Vargas kick).

R: Kingsley Barconey Jr. 40 interception return (Robert Vargas kick).

J: Christian Hebert 29 return of blocked punt (Ethan Cabos kick).

R: Coryan Hawkins 9 run (Robert Vargas kick).

R: Norman Taylor 44 run (Robert Vargas kick).