Brother Martin gains revenge with 26-23 win over Rummel

METAIRIE – A year ago, Archbishop Rummel ended Brother Martin’s season one game short of playing for a state championship. It marked the second straight year the Raiders ended the Crusaders season.

Within a matter of hours, Crusaders coach Mark Bonis was no longer preparing for or fighting an opponent who proved to be too formidable to overcome.

Instead, Bonis was battling a more ominous, difficult opponent which almost proved too difficult to overcome – a ruptured abdominal aorta which was so serious that it could have proved fatal.

Bonis, with the help of a good medical team, overcame that adversity to survive.

Bonis, with the help of a good game plan and good execution, overcame the nemesis that has been Rummel Saturday.

Garrett Mmahat tossed a pair of touchdown passes, Jaylon Spears rushed for two scores and the Crusaders came up with three turnovers to hold off the Raiders 26-23 at Joe Yenni Stadium in a game heard live on 106.1 FM Saturday afternoon.

“It wasn’t this game,” Bonis said. “It’s every time I step on the field, I feel blessed to be on the field. I’m not supposed to be here and I’m not supposed to be coaching. In the grand scheme of things, it’s the middle of the season. I have learned to enjoy the success. There’s a lot of hard work that went into it. We’ve had real tough losses to them and to others in the quarterfinals and semifinals.”

Brother Martin never trailed in a game that it controlled from the start.

On the opening possession of the game, the Crusaders drove 80 yards in seven plays with Spears scoring on a 1-yard run to make it 6-0 after a botched extra point. Spears ran four times for 46 yards on the drive.

Rummel drove to the Brother Martin 6-yard line on its first possession but a Kyle Wickersham pass was tipped and intercepted by Brother Martin linebacker Austin Roberts.

The Crusaders were pinned back and Cameron Francioni blocked a punt which went out of the end zone for the safety to cut the Brother Martin lead to 6-2 with 4:01 to play in the opening quarter.

On its next possession, Brother Martin drove 86 yards in six plays with Mmahat hitting Austin Jackson on a 33-yard touchdown pass as Jackson went up over a pair of defenders to make the play and the lead was 13-2 with 11:53 to play in the first half.

The Raiders would miss a field goal before Brother Martin went 80 yards in five plays with Mmahat again connecting with Jackson on a touchdown pass, this time covering 79 yards and the Crusaders opened up a 20-2 lead with 2:39 to play in the half.

Rummel finally put together a drive which it finished, going 71 yards in 13 plays. Notre Dame commit Logan Diggs scored on a 7-yard run with 49 seconds left in the half to make it 20-8 after a missed extra point.

Any momentum the Raiders had going into halftime was squashed on the second half kickoff when Rummel failed to handle a short kickoff, fumbled and Jordan Thomas recovered for Brother Martin at the Raider 44-yard line.

Brother Martin took advantage, driving 44 yards in eight plays with Spears scoring from 4 yards out to increase the lead to 26-8 with eight minutes to play in the third quarter as the extra point attempt failed.

Rummel took advantage of an outstanding punt return of 38 yards by Diggs to set up a his own 1-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 26-15.

The Raiders made it interesting late, driving 82 yards in six plays with Wickersham hitting Diggs on a 6-yard touchdown pass before Wickersham completed a 2-point conversion pass to make it 26-23 with 2:08 remaining. However, the ensuing onside kick attempt by Rummel was recovered by Rylon Johnson of Brother Martin to seal the victory.

Mmahat completed 9-of-17 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns and ran eight times for 22 yards. Spears rushed 20 times for 102 yards and two scores. Tight end Logan Farrel was a big factor with four catches for 93 yards.

Diggs rushed 16 times for 129 yards and two scores and caught a touchdown pass to go with his excellent punt return. Wickersham completed 17-of-27 passes for 148 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

“Hats off to Rummel for continuing to fight,” Bonis said. “That is a championship program that knows how to win. We have a lot to improve on but I don’t feel we played very well today on special teams and offense. It bodes well for the future but we have to learn how to put teams away.”

The Crusaders were coming off of an important 56-42 win at Tioga which set the tone for their game with Rummel.

“I think the trip to Tioga last week was a big thing for us, going on the road and playing a really tough team and coming back to win as our defense scored twice in the game to give them a little confidence,” Bonis said. “It carried over today.”

Jackson had three catches for 98 yards and two scores for the Crusaders.

“Jackson is special. He is smooth,” Bonis. “He makes plays and he is faster than people think. We are really excited about his future.”

It was the first loss as a head coach for Nick Monica, who guided the Raiders to the Division I state championship in 2019 and had won his first 15 games.

Brother Martin (4-0, 1-0) returns to action next Saturday afternoon at Archbishop Shaw at 2 p.m.

“We have to learn how to handle success,” Bonis said. “Everyone is going to be telling us how good we are. We must maintain focus and continue to improve as a team, not to focus on what has been done or how good the opponent is.”

Rummel (2-1, 0-1) will host Holy Cross next Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Joe Yenni Stadium in a game that will be aired on 106.1 FM.

FINAL
BM 6 14 6 0 — 26
RUM 2 6 7 8 — 23

Yards Rushing:
BM 171, RUM 152

Yards Passing:
BM 202, RUM 148

Total Yards:
BM 373, RUM 300

Turnovers:
BM 1, RUM 3

Sacks:
BM 1, RUM 2

Penalties:
BM 9 for 64 yards, RUM 5 for 60 yards