REPLAY: Brother Martin dominates in all phases in 45-14 victory over Rummel

METAIRIE – Defending Catholic League champion Brother Martin is showing no signs of wanting to relinquish its crown.

The Crusaders dominated from the start in a 45-14 victory over Archbishop Rummel Friday night at Joe Yenni Stadium.

The game was streamed live by Crescent City Sports. It will re-air on Cox Sports Television Tuesday at noon.

Brother Martin (4-0, 3-0) extended its regular-season winning streak to 12 games over the last two years.

Clayton Lonardo started his second consecutive game at quarterback for Brother Martin and led the Crusaders to their first touchdown, on a 2-yard run by Torey Lambert with 2:48 left in the first quarter.

Garrett Mmahat, who missed last week’s victory over St. Augustine with a shoulder injury, took over for the third Brother Martin series and led the Crusaders to five scores on their next six possessions.

“We … made the decision (Thursday),” Mmahat said of the quarterback plan. “The O-line did a great job. They knew I wasn’t going to be able to take hits and I didn’t get hit much.”

Lonardo moved to wide receiver and was Mmahat’s favorite target, catching a 34-yard pass on his first series to set up a 2-yard Jordan Thomas TD run and a 50-yard touchdown pass on the next possession to extend the lead to 21-0.

A 27-yard field goal by Leyton Liuzza made it 24-0 at halftime, capping a first half in which Brother Martin outgained Rummel 288-32.

The intermission didn’t slow down the Crusaders. Jahron Manning returned the second-half kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and Brother Martin scored on next two offensive possessions on runs by Thomas and Troy Santa Marina to take a 45-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.

By the Crusaders’ final two possessions, Brother Martin coach Mark Bonis was emptying his bench.

“We had a great week of practice,” said Bonis, whose team scored the most points against a Rummel team since 1997. “I thought we had a good plan. It was our most complete game to this point … but we have a long way to go.”

The Raiders avoided a shutout with a pair of late touchdowns, on a 1-yard sneak by Mikey Ryan and an 8-yard run by La’Damion McDowell.

Lambert rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown to lead the potent Brother Martin rushing game. Mmahat completed seven of nine passes for 165 yards, while Lonardo accounted for 133 total yards – 104 receiving, 21 passing and 8 rushing.