REPLAY: St. Aug blitzes Shaw in rematch to advance to quarterfinals

NEW ORLEANS – It figured to be a little bit of a better game.

No. 8 seed St. Augustine had different ideas Thursday night in its rematch with No. 9 seed and Catholic League rival Archbishop Shaw.

Dylan Devezin passed for three touchdowns, Carl Singleton rushed for a pair of scores and St. Augustine forced five turnovers as the Purple Knights dominated from start to finish in a 52-14 victory over Catholic League rival Archbishop Shaw in the opening round of the Division I state playoffs at Tad Gormley Stadium in a game seen live on Crescent City Sports.

Just two weeks ago, St. Augustine fought off Shaw 21-9 in a competitive game.

This one was anything but competitive.

Devezin completed 20-of-28 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns and rushed five times for 37 yards. Singleton rushed nine times for 74 yards and two touchdowns and Javen Nicholas had seven catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns for the Purple Knights.

The Purple Knights took the opening kickoff and drove 72 yards in six plays with Carl Singleton scoring on a 2-yard run to make it 7-0 with 10:21 to play in the opening quarter.

It appeared the Eagles would make a game of it when Jordan Evans returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7.

That would be the last gasp for the Eagles having any chance to stay in the game.

St. Augustine took the lead for good, driving 55 yards in five plays with Singleton scoring on a 1-yard run to make it 14-7 with 8:52 to play in the first quarter.

The Purple Knights defense got into the ack when Damaiyuran Compton picked off a Stephen Banford pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown and it was 21-7 with 11:05 to play in the first half.

St. Aug came up with another turnover when Jeffrey Duroncelay intercepted Banford and that set up a 31-yard touchdown pass from Devezin to Javen Nicholas to make it 28-7 with 9:28 to play in the half.

Stewart McCall then kicked a 25-yard field goal an it was 31-7 with 4:12 to play in the half and just before halftime, St. Aug drove 73 yards in eight plays with Devezin hitting Joshua Jackson with a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-7 at the half.

The lead quickly grew to 45-7 in the third quarter as St. Augustine drove 87 yards in six plays, culminating with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Devezin to Nicholas.

After a sack of Shaw quarterback Stephen Banford, Tajh Henderson recovered at the Eagles 15-yard line and on the next play, Tyler Hayes ran untouched into the end zone to make it 52-7 with 6:44 left in the third quarter.

From that point forward, the game was played by running time as St. Augustine cleared its bench.

Shaw got its final score by going 51 yards in five plays with Jayce LaCava scoring on a 17-yard run with 2:10 to play in the third quarter to complete the scoring.

LaCava led the Shaw offense, rushing 20 times for 74 yards and a touchdown and catching four passes for 29 yards. Star running back David Kency did not play for the Eagles and it crippled any chance of Shaw staying in the contest.

Davis Oliver-Goodwin and Jeremiah Keppard each added an interception for the Purple Knights.

St. Augustine advances to the quarterfinals to meet No. 1 seed Catholic of Baton Rouge a week from Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Catholic defeated St. Augustine 42-19 at Memorial Stadium in the 2018 Division I quarterfinals.

FINAL
St. Aug 14 24 14 0 — 52
Shaw 7 0 7 0 — 14

Scoring:
1st Qtr.
SA—Carl Singleton, 2-yard run (Stewart McCall kick)
SHAW—Jordan Evans, 90-yard punt return (Louis Weaver kick)
SA—Carl Singleton, 1-yard run (Stewart McCall kick)

2nd Qtr.
SA—Damaiyuran Compton, 72-yard INT return (Stewart McCall kick)
SA—Javen Nicholas, 31-yard pass from Dylan Devezin (Stewart McCall kick)
SA—Stewart McCall, 31-yard field goal
SA—Joshua Jackson, 5-yard pass from Dylan Devezin (Stewart McCall kick)

3rd Qtr.
SA—Javen Nicholas, 25-yard pass from Dylan Devezin (Stewart McCall kick)
SA—Tyler Hayes, 15-yard run (Stewart McCall kick)
SHAW—Jayce LaCava, 17-yard run (Louis Weaver kick

First Downs:
SA 18
SHAW 9

Penalties:
SA 12 for 86 yards
SHAW 2 for 10 yards

Sacks:
SA 3
SHAW 0

Turnovers:
SA 1
SHAW 5

Rushing Yards:
SA 144
SHAW 95

Passing Yards:
SA 340
SHAW 43

Total Yards:
SA 484
SHAW 138

Individual Rushing:
SA—Carl Singleton 9 carries for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns, Dylan Devezin 5 carries for 37 yards, Tyler Hayes 1 carry for 15 yards and 1 touchdown, Dawson Simmons 1 carry for 10 yards, Johnell Patterson 5 carries for 8 yards, Jeffrey Duroncelay 1 carry for 0 yards

SHAW—Jayce LaCava 20 carries for 74 yards and 1 touchdown, Stephen Banford 6 carries for 21 yards

Individual Passing:
SA—Dylan Devezin 20-of-28 for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns, Dawson Simmons 2-of-2 for 32 yards

SHAW—Stephen Banford 5-of-16 for 43 yards and 4 interceptions

Individual Receiving:
SA—Javen Nicholas 8 catches for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, Karaaz Johnson 6 catches for 54 yards, Joshua Jackson 5 catches for 77 yards and 1 touchdown, Devin Smith 2 catches for 32 yards, Monroe Dillon 1 catch for 27 yards

SHAW—Jayce LaCava 5 catches for 29 yards, George Sartor 1 catch for 16 yards

Thursday’s Football Playoff Scores

Class 5A
(17) East Ascension 42, (16) Southside 26

Class 4A
(6) Huntington 68, (27) Tioga 27

Class 1A
(11) Lincoln Prep 46, (22) Delhi 6

Division I
(8) St. Augustine 52, (9) Archbishop Shaw 14
(7) John Curtis Christian 54, (10) Holy Cross 14