Rummel rallies in fourth quarter for 22-21 victory over Jesuit

Photos: Bill Arthurs

Video Replay: Rummel 22, Jesuit 21

NEW ORLEANS – With eight minutes remaining in Friday’s District 9-5A matchup with Jesuit at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium, Rummel coach Jay Roth was staring a second consecutive Catholic League loss in the face and was even thinking about his postgame speech.

A takeaway inside the Raider 20-yard line would flip the momentum and spark a comeback as the Raiders took a 22-21 victory over the Blue Jays in a game seen live on Crescent City Sports.

Chandler Fields connected with JaMarr Chase on a pair of touchdown passes in a 90-second span to bring the Raiders back from an 11-point deficit.

“What we preached all week was ‘fourth quarter’,” said Roth, whose team forced four takeaways in the final 12 minutes. “Our last five losses going back to last season, we’ve lost them in the fourth quarter. I was really proud of ’em, making plays in the fourth quarter.”

Up until the eight-minute mark of the final period, it looked like that number could reach six.

Jesuit quarterback Alex Watermeier connected with wide receiver Robert McMahon on an 85-yard catch and run to the Rummel 1-yard line, and one play later, Michael Torry scored on a 1-yard run to give the Blue Jays a 21-10 lead with 8:40 remaining.

A squib kick on the ensuing kickoff bounded all the way to the 17-yard line, where Jesuit’s Matthew Sauviac recovered, putting the Blue Jays in the red zone with a chance to add on to the lead again.

Two plays later, Rummel turned in the game-changing play, forcing a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Aaron Thomas at the 20.

Fields engineered an 80-yard, five-play drive that took just 63 seconds, capping the drive with a 34-yard pass to Chase to make it 21-16 with 6:46 remaining. The two-point try failed.

Three plays after the kickoff, Rummel was back in business when Aaron Brule recovered a Blue Jay fumble at the Rummel 43.

After a pair of incompletions set up third-and-10, Fields hit Chase in the right corner of the end zone for a 43-yard score with 5:16 left, giving the Raiders their first lead of the evening. Again, the conversion try failed.

After an exchange of punts, Jesuit had one last chance from its 32 with 1:29 left, but Corey Smooth intercepted Watermeier and returned it to the Jesuit 5-yard line with 1:11 remaining. Fields kneeled out the clock to clinch it.

Rummel outgained Jesuit 353-281. Fields completed 24 of 32 passes for 271 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Chase had seven receptions for 139 yards.

After slow starts the last two weeks, Jesuit started magnificently on offense, mixing the run and pass on an 15-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 6:48. Torry’s 1-yard touchdown run on third and goal capped the drive as the Blue Jays took a 7-0 lead with 1:56 left in the first quarter.

Rummel pulled even with 3:13 left in the second quarter when Keirell Jackson scored on a 1-yard run.

The last minute of the half was full of momentum swings.

Rummel was looking to get into position for a go-ahead score when Fields was intercepted by Michael Hull, who returned it 47 yards to the Raider 8-yard line with 42 seconds left. Three plays later, Watermeier hit Noah Varnado for a 2-yard score with 19 seconds left as Jesuit took a 14-7 lead.

The half was not over, however, as Jermie Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 69 yards to the Blue Jay 10 with eight seconds left. After a Rummel false start and a Jesuit pass interference penalty, Chris Freibert kicked a 25-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it a 14-10 game.