Replay: Brother Martin snaps three-game losing streak to St. Augustine

NEW ORLEANS – They say when it rains it pours, but on Saturday night at Tad Gormley Stadium it was a constant drizzle.

Brother Martin slipped slightly late but did not fall, making key defensive stops to hold off St. Augustine, 17-7, in a game aired live on CrescentCitySports.com and on WGSO, 990 AM.

On a short field, the Crusaders were able to take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter when Jaylon Spears ran a nine-yard touchdown. That was all they would need by the end.

St. Augustine (3-2, 0-2) did start a comeback in the fourth quarter when Broderick Martin broke off a 54-yard run for their only score of the game to draw closer at 17-7 with 10:16 left in the game.

However, Brother Martin (3-2, 1-1) closed the game with a pair of interceptions, one by Davonn Moore and the other by Brady Faust.

The Crusaders earned their first District 9-5A win this season and their first victory against St. Augustine since 2014.

“It’s a big win against a very good football team,’Brother Martin coach Mark Bonis said. “Coach Jones and staff do a great job. For us to come away with a big win in this rivalry game is really big for us right now and at the point in the season. But we still have a lot of mistakes to correct.”

Brother Martin totaled 241 yards of total offense with 150 rushing yards. Spears ran it 19 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Smith finished with a team-high 21 carries for 79 yards.

“We prepared well during the week and came out with the victory,” Smith said. “The offensive line worked really hard during the week and they gave it to them.”

Bonis gave credit to his blockers in the trenches for helping Brother Martin dominate time of possession.

“I’ve got to give it up to our offensive line,” Bonis said. “I found out kind of late that we had to start a freshman, which we’ve never done in the program before as an offensive lineman. And the rest of our offensive linemen are sophomores besides two seniors So, for us to come out here and do that I’m really proud of our guys. The plan was to come in and run the football and control the clock and we did a good job of doing that.”

On their third drive of the game, the Crusaders put together a 12-play 60-yard drive capped by a Jaylon Spears six-yard run which made it 7-0 with 8:49 left in the first quarter.

Brother Martin blitzed often throughout the game, finishing with five sacks and three interceptions of St. Augustine quarterbacks Trevon Woodson and Kendell Sampson, much to the chagrin of Purple Knights head coach Nathaniel Jones.

“I think the difference in the game was the turnover ratio,” Jones said. “If you turn the ball over three times and you don’t get turnovers, then you will have that type of result. The good thing is our defense shut them out in the second half, but we gave up 17 points in the first half. We gotta be more efficient on offense. We can’t leave the ball game with just 7 points on the scoreboard.”

St. Augustine continues Catholic League play next Friday at Archbishop Shaw at 3:30 p.m., while Brother Martin will host Bastrop in a non-district matchup Friday night at 7 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium.

STATS
Rushing Yards
BM 150, SA 154

Passing Yards
BM 91, SA 145

Total Yards
BM 241, SA 299

First Downs
BM 11, SA 8

Penalties
BM 8 for 64 yards
SA 6 for 49 yards

Sacks
BM 5
SA 1

Turnovers
BM 0
SA 3

Individual Stats
BM Rushing
Chris Smith 21 carries for 79 yards
Jaylon Spears 19 carries for 68 yards, 1 TD

BM Passing
Drew Martin 5-of-13 for 91 yards

BM Receiving
Brady Faust 3 catches for 53 yards
Davonn Moore 1 catch for 36 yards
Chris Smith 1 catch for 2 yards

SA Rushing
Broderick Martin 3 carries for 60 yards, 1 TD
Mahmoud Bailey 9 carries for 53 yards
Kendell Sampson 5 carries for 23 yards
Trevon Woodson 7 carries for 12 yards
Josh White 1 carry for 2 yards

SA Passing
Trevon Woodson 5-of-14 for 102 yards, 1 INT
Kendell Sampson 4-of-12 for 43 yards, 2 INTS

SA Receiving
Devin Coatney 2 catches for 76 yards
Mahmoud Bailey 2 catches for 13 yards
De’Andre Cooper 2 catches for 4 yards
Broderick Martin 1 catch for 47 yards
Khi Mathieu 1 catch for 17 yards
Josh White 1 catch for 8 yards