Rummel, Holy Cross playing down quarterback exchange ahead of Friday matchup

The dynamic is dynamic.

For the last 51 years, Holy Cross and Rummel have competed on the gridiron and built a solid but healthy rivalry.

After the Tigers, then a Louisiana power, won the first six meetings in the series between 1966-71, Rummel took over. The Raiders have dominated the series, winning 34 of the last 40 matchups.

In fact, Rummel has won the last 17 meetings between the two teams, all under current head coach and former Raider quarterback Jay Roth. Holy Cross defeated Rummel and Roth 35-20 in Roth’s first year on the job in 1995 and the Raiders have not lost to the Tigers since. The 1995 season was the last Catholic League title for the Tigers as they shared it with St. Augustine.

Rummel has dominated the league in the last two decades, winning or sharing 12 of the last 18 Catholic League titles. The two teams hook up in an important Catholic League contest Friday night at 7 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium.

The rivalry has taken on more significance of late with ties that bind.

Eric Rebaudo, who played at Rummel, graduating in 1992, coached as an assistant at Rummel under Roth from 2000-02. He left Rummel to become defensive coordinator at Holy Cross, serving in that capacity for 12 years before taking over for Barry Wilson as head coach of the Tigers in 2014.

Now, there is the matter of the quarterback exchange.

Jaiden Moran transferred from Holy Cross to Rummel in search of an opportunity to play. Moran was a backup to then freshman Chandler Fields at Holy Cross. At Rummel, Moran played some in 2016, serving as a backup to Jacob Palma.

Following the 2016 season, Fields, with approval from his parents, transferred to Rummel in what the family described as a personal decision. Soon after, Moran transferred back to Holy Cross, hoping for an opportunity to play.

While the moves seemed suspicious to some and raised flags for others, they were completely legal, within LHSAA rules and done correctly. The Fields family contacted the Rummel admissions office before any contact with the Raider football program was initiated. Rummel, in turn, contacted the LHSAA to make sure that any transfer would be in complete compliance with the organization’s rules and that was determined to be accurate.

While John Curtis and St. Augustine are unbeaten in 9-5A thus far, a share of the district lead is on the on the line.

Rummel is unbeaten at 4-0 and 1-0 in District 9-5A after a 56-10 win over Shaw last Saturday. Holy Cross is 3-2 and 2-0 in Catholic League play after a huge 31-17 win over Jesuit following a 34-7 win over Shaw. The Tigers lost 7-0 to unbeaten Covington and 23-21 in a rivalry game at Chalmette.

Emotions are sure to run high Friday night but both coaches of each highly respected school and program are emphasizing keeping things in check.

“It is a big football game and the personalities have nothing to do with that,” Roth said. “It is a big game. Holy Cross is two plays from being unbeaten. They are a big, physical, good football team. I have nothing but respect for Eric and we remain friends. I am happy for Jaiden and for Chandler. Both seem to be happy and are playing. I met with Jaiden and let him know that we would love to keep him here and he would have a chance to compete for the job but he opted to leave. We wish him nothing but the best, except against us.”

Rebaudo dispelled any notion of a broken relationship with Roth.

“I have nothing but respect for Jay,” Rebaudo said. “He helped my career and I learned a lot from him. He’s run the program in outstanding fashion. They’ve been the staple of our league. We view this as an opportunity to compete. It’s a football game, nothing else. We’re trying to get better, working on things to improve on. We want to be better in October than we were in September, better in November than we were in October.”

The marriage between Rummel and Fields has been blissful.

“Chandler is a natural leader through hard work,” Roth said. “People feed off of his work ethic. He’s very talented. He has a great understanding of football and has a live arm. He does everything right. He’s a good student and a good teammate. We are blessed to have him. He is unselfish as a person and player and always takes what the defense gives him.”

The obvious concern would be emotions overflowing and making the game more than it should be.

“We are playing Holy Cross and we’re not going to make the game bigger than it is,” Fields said. “It’s just a football game and nothing else. That is the focus. We respect their team and know they will be tough. We’re just going to out there and execute our game plan and take care of business and work hard to try to get a win again. It has been a great experience in school and playing here at Rummel.”

Roth has emphasized the team aspect of playing an important, emotional contest.

“I’m not concerned about any extra-curricular activity,” Roth said. “If it gets to that point, it will get in the way of the goal for both teams, which is to win. I believe it will be a solid, hard fought game that will be much bigger than personal reasons and individuals.”

“This is the Catholic League,” Rebaudo said. “We treat each game with equal importance. Rummel is a very talented football team with excellent skill. We will not allow it to go beyond football. The moves happened a long time ago. There’s been so much that has happened since then. We have moved on as a team. We wish Chandler well, except for this week. There are emotions every week. It was very emotional playing Jesuit last week. We have nothing but respect for Rummel. There is nothing out of the normal for us. That is our focus.”