History repeats itself as Catholic downs Rummel on last second field goal

BATON ROUGE – If it seemed like we had been here before, perhaps we had.

In 2015, Catholic High won its first-ever state championship in prep football on a last second 34-yard field goal by Parker Fontenot to shock No. 1 Rummel, 31-28.

On Friday night at Memorial Stadium, Cole Casenave drilled a 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left to give No. 2 Catholic a thrilling 13-10 victory over No. 3 Rummel in the Division I semifinals in a game heard live on WGSO, 990 AM.

The game-winner capped a nine play, 57-yard drive on a night where the high powered Catholic offense was stymied by a fast, aggressive Raider defense throughout.

The Bears overcame a 10-3 fourth quarter deficit to pull out a hard fought victory.

“We preach to our kids all the time four quarters times 12 minutes,” Catholic head coach Gabe Fertitta said. “The game is four 12 minute quarters, 48 minutes. Circumstances of what goes on with one play can affect the way you perform on the next play. Focusing on what’s right in front of us is what we preach. Unbelievable job by Rummel. Nick Monica, their defensive coordinator, they had all kinds of stuff going on that we had not seen on film and they did a phenomenal job. Hats off to our coaches for adjusting late, getting the ball moved down the field and on defense and special teams, what a night!”

Rummel took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in 13 plays, taking 5:16 off the clock with Chandler Fields hitting Koy Moore on a 6-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead 5:44 to play in the quarter.

Catholic took advantage of a Rummel fumble on a botched snap, Connor Finucane recovered for the Bears at the Rummel 32-yard line. The Rummel defense held and Cole Cazenave kicked a 48-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.

Beau Bacas intercepted a Fields pass and drove to the Rummel 19-yard line but the Raiders blocked a Cazenave field goal to keep the lead.

The Raiders later had a punt blocked by Bacas but once again, the Raider defense stood tall, getting a stop to maintain their halftime lead.

Rummel extended the lead last in the third quarter, driving 79 yards in 15 plays, taking 7:53 off the clock but the drive stalled and Patrick Vanderbrook kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Raiders a 10-3 lead with 49 seconds to play in the quarter.

The Bears, who won the kicking game all night, punted Rummel deep and forced a three-and-out. After a short punt, Catholic got the ball at the Rummel 26-yard line following a face mask penalty and capitalized to tie the game, driving 26 yards in three plays with Cameron Dartez connecting with Solomon Singleton on a 14-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 10-10 with 6:57 to play in the game.

Rummel then mounted what looked like a potential game-winning drive, moving from its own 20 to the Catholic 28-yard line but a questionable block in the back penalty killed the drive and a chance for Vanderbrook, who was 9-for-9 on field goals on the season, to boot a game-winner for the Raiders.

Instead, the Raiders (9-3) were forced to punt, setting the stage for the winning drive for Catholic.

The Bears started at their own 25-yard line and overcame a second-and-27 situation as Dartez hit Braelen Morgan on a 38-yard screen pass before Dartez completed passes of 15 and 10 yards to Forrest Roy to set up Casenave’s game-winner.

Rummel coach Jay Roth lamented the missed opportunity.

“We were in field goal position to win it and we got a penalty,” Roth said. “We thought we would punt and put them in a hole and make them drive to win the game and they did. They caught us on the screen pass. We knew we were playing a good team and there were two good defenses out there. The defenses showed up and played tonight. They got the last drive and won the game. We were 1-5 in Catholic League play last year and we were 5-1 this year. We got back to the semifinals. It was a better season for us with a tough ending.”

Dartez, who was 0-for-4 passing in the first half and did not have a yard passing until there were 27 seconds left in the third quarter, rallied to finish 9-of-16 for 112 yards and a touchdown and he rushed 13 times for 57 yards.

Fields finished 19-of-25 for 152 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Moore had 14 catches for 110 yards.

“We found a way to win and it wouldn’t be CurDog style football without a little gritty, tough, grind-it-out kind of win.”

Catholic (11-1) advances to face No. 1 John Curtis Christian, who remained unbeaten with a 56-34 win over No. 5 Evangel. The Patriots (12-0) face a rematch with the Bears for the Division I state championship on Dec. 8 at noon. Last year, the Bears downed the Patriots 20-14 for the title. Curtis is looking for its first state title in Division I.

“I don’t have any thoughts about the rematch,” Fertita said. “I’m just excited about this game. We’ll start working on Curtis tonight when I get home.”

The Bears will be in search of their third state championship in four seasons.

“You never take this for granted,” Fertitta said.

FINAL

RUM 7 0 3 0 10

CHS 0 3 0 10 13

Scoring

1st Qtr.

RUM—Koy Moore, 6-yard pass from Chandler Fields (Patrick Vanderbrook kick) 7-0 RUM @ 6:44-1st

2nd Qtr.

CHS—Cole Casenave, 48-yard field goal 7-3 RUM @ 11:46-2nd

3rd Qtr.

RUM—Patrick Vanderbrook, 35-yard field goal 10-3 RUM @:49 seconds-3rd

4th Qtr.

CHS—Solomon Singleton, 14-yard pass from Cameron Dartez (Cole Cazanave kick) 10-10 @ 6:57-4th

CHS—Cole Casenave, 35-yard field goal 13-10 CHS @ :07

Team Statistics

First Downs:

RUM 15

CHS 12

Penalties:

RUM 11 for 74 yards

CHS 2 for 34 yards

Sacks:

RUM 3

CHS 1

Turnovers:

RUM 2

CHS 1

Rushing Yards:

RUM 112

CHS 78

Passing Yards:
RUM 152

CHS 112

Total Yards:

RUM 264

CHS 190

Individual Statatistics:

RUM Rushing:

Logan Diggs 12 carries for 69 yards

Kyle Walker 7 carries for 30 yards

Jaelen Sturgis 11 carries for 15 yards

Chandler Fields 2 carries for 1 yard

Koy Moore 5 carries for -3 yards

RUM Passing:

Chandler Fields 19-of-25 for 152 yards and one touchdown, one interception

RUM Receiving:

Koy Moore 14 catches for 110 yards and one touchdown

Jacob Renton 2 catches for 16 yards

Kyle Walker 2 catches for 8 yards

Amour Rachal 1 catch for 13 yards

CHS Rushing:

Cameron Dartez 13 carries for 57 yards

Josh Parker 9 carries for 19 yards

Jake Outlaw 1 carry for 2 yards

Braelen Morgan 1 carry for 0 yards

CHS Passing:

Cameron Dartez 9-of-16 for 112 yards and one touchdown

CHS Receiving:

Braelen Morgan 3 catches for 39 yards

Forrest Roy 2 catches for 25 yards

Solomon Singleton 2 catches for 14 yards and one touchown

Brandon Hubicz 1 catch for 17 yards

Gary Martin 1 catch for 17 yards