REPLAY: Brother Martin gets big plays in all phases to top St. Augustine, 27-24

NEW ORLEANS – The Brother Martin defense made key plays early and late, and the offense and special teams turned in big plays in between as the 13th-seeded Crusaders defeated No. 4 seed St. Augustine 27-24 in a Division I select second-round game Friday at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Brother Martin (7-5) intercepted five St. Augustine passes, including two each by Gregory Jackson Jr. and Troy Santa Marina. Santa Marina’s interception of a desperation fourth-down pass with 1:31 remaining clinched the victory, which was live streamed on Crescent City Sports.

The Crusader offense got a 74-yard touchdown pass from Seth Dazet to Clayton Lonardo late in the first quarter, and the special teams delivered with a 46-yard field goal from Leyton Liuzza with 8:02 remaining that turned out to be the final margin.

The rest of the Crusaders’ night offensively was a lot of ground work from senior running back Torey Lambert, who carried 38 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns – a 1-yard run in the second quarter and a 2-yard burst in the third quarter, the last of which capped a 13-play drive in which Lambert carried the ball 11 times.

The Crusaders, who never led in a 14-13 loss to the Purple Knights two Fridays ago in the regular-season finale, jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half as the defense picked off quarterback Amare Cooper on four of the Purple Knights’ first six possessions.

Jackson had an interception on the first play from scrimmage but Brother Martin went three-and-out. Two possessions later, Jeremy Turner’s interception and return – with Jackson also in coverage – put the Crusaders in business at the St. Aug 9-yard line, but had to settle for a 20-yard Liuzza field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The Dazet-to-Lonardo connection with 42 seconds left in the quarter made it a 10-0 lead.

Jackson’s second interception, on the first play of the second quarter, gave Brother Martin another short field, and Lambert’s first touchdown extended the lead to 17-0 with 8:59 left in the half.

The Purple Knights took advantage of a Lambert fumble at the Brother Martin 22 late in the half, getting on the board with a 22-yard field goal from Stewart McCall with 23 seconds left in the half to make it a 17-3 game at intermission.

Cooper and the St. Augustine quick-strike passing game got untracked in the second half. Cooper had touchdown passes of 48 yards to Karaaz Johnson, 15 yards to Hubert Caliste and 7 yards to Josh Jackson, each time to cap a four-play drive to pull the Purple Knights within one score.

St. Augustine had one last chance with 3:27 left, but a pair of sacks forced a fourth-and-17 and knocked Cooper out of the game. Taking his first snap of the night, Vashaun Coulon heaved a long pass downfield that was intercepted by Santa Marina.

With the Purple Knights down to one time out, Brother Martin was able to kneel out the clock, but not without some confusion. St. Augustine thought they had recovered a fumble in the final seconds, but Brother Martin apparently called time out before the ball was snapped.

The Crusaders, the only lower seed to advance in the Division I select bracket, will host Northwood next Friday night in the quarterfinals.

St. Augustine ended its season at 7-3.