Rummel dominates first half, defense holds up late for big win over St. Aug

NEW ORLEANS – It was somewhat unconventional.

After all, conventional wisdom is that the team that dominates the football, including time of possession and snaps always has an advantage, make that a big advantage in a football game.

Someone forgot to impart that thought process to Archbishop Rummel.

Despite having far fewer opportunities, Rummel led from start to finish in a 31-19 victory over St. Augustine in a District 9-5A contest Saturday afternoon at Tad Gormley Stadium in a game heard live on 106.1 FM.

The Purple Knight offense was seemingly on the field the entire game, with 76 offensive snaps to just 46 for the Raiders. That included a 38-24 edge in the first half when Rummel scored 24 points in as many snaps and as many minutes in the half.

Kyle Wickersham followed up his Player of the Week performance against Holy Cross with a three touchdown pass effort while Notre Dame commit Logan Diggs rushed 15 times for 147 yards and a score to pace the Raiders.

Diggs also caught three passes for 15 yards, had two excellent kick returns and made a huge tackle late in the game when inserted at defensive back to help stop St. Aug on its final possession.

“The coaches look at me as a play-maker so every week, I’ve just got to come up and live up to that name,” Diggs said. “Whatever they need me to do, I’m going to do it. That’s the motto. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight and worry about the next opponent Monday.”

In the end, it was the Rummel defense which allowed the Raiders to prevail, turning away St. Augustine continuously, despite being on the field for such protracted periods of times.

All eight possessions for the Raiders in the second half resulted in just two or three offensive plays but it was enough in a gutty performance.

Rummel played nearly flawless football in the first half, winning all three phases of the game.

St. Augustine received the opening kickoff and on fourth and nine from its own 38-yard line, punter Javen Nicholas elected to try to run for a first down and was hit for a 3-yard loss.

The Raiders took advantage of the short field as Ethan Klapatch nailed a 24-yard field goal to give Rummel a 3-0 lead with 7:46 to play in the opening quarter.

After getting another stop, it took the Raiders just two plays to add to the lead as Diggs raced 65 yards for a score and it was 10-0 with 4:10 to play in the opening quarter.

St. Augustine then got it going, piecing together a 15 play, 79-yard drive in 5:06 with Kendell Sampson hitting Jason Malbrue on a 3-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 10:53 to play in the first half.

Rummel answered quickly, going 50 yards in six plays with Wickersham hitting Nicholas Howard on a post corner route for an 18-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 17-6 lead with 9:08 to play in the half.

The Raiders then fashioned their most impressive drive of the afternoon, going 70 yards in 12 plays with Wickersham hitting Tyronne Hayes on a 24-yard touchdown pass and it was 24-6 by halftime.

Rummel would muster just 87 total yards and three first downs in the second half as the St. Aug defense became more aggressive and stiffened.

The Purple Knights drew closer, driving 76 yards in 10 plays with Sampson scoring on a 2-yard run to make it 24-13 with 1:57 to play in the third quarter.

St. Augustine got a stop and had a chance to shorten the deficit but Sampson was picked off by Kaden White, who returned it to the Rummel 46-yard line on the fourth play of the fourth quarter.

The Raiders would take advantage, driving 54 yards in just three plays with Wickersham hitting Howard on a 29-yard touchdown pass and it was 31-13 with 9:01 to play.

The Purple Knights needed just 35 seconds to cut into the lead, going 50 yards in five plays with Sampson hitting Carl Singleton on a 34-yard touchdown pass and it was 31-19 with 8:16 to play after a missed extra point.

St. Aug had two more possessions but had to punt on the first and the second ended on a game-clinching interception of Sampson by Jalen Pelrean.

Rummel head coach Nick Monica knows his team can still improve but was very happy with the performance.

“I thought it was probably the best game we played this year,” Monica said. “We kind of looked more like we expected to look. We played a really good first half. I was impressed with both sides of the ball and the kicking game helped us out tremendously. We took our foot off the gas a little bit in the second half. I thought we gave them way too many possessions but we are happy to just get out with a win against a really good team.”

Despite the big win, Monica has a conventional message to convey to his team.

“The message will be about finishing games,” Monica said. “We can’t afford to let your foot off the gas against good teams and the rest of the way, that’s all we’re going to play. We’ve just got to stay focused. I think we definitely needed to see this as coaches to see what type of team we have and also the kids. They needed this confidence to beat a team like this. It showed them we can really good if we set our minds to it.”

Wickersham was 10-of-19 for 128 yards and three touchdowns with an interception and rushed seen times for 35 yards. Howard finished with three catches for 63 yards and a score.

Sampson completed 22-of-40 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He added 15 carries for 62 yards and a score. Singleton finished with eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

“We had a big win last Sunday and we basically came out flat and they jumped on us,” St. Aug coach Nick Foster said. “You cannot come out flat against a good team and that is what happened. We have to play all four quarters. We will get it corrected.”

Rummel (4-1, 2-1) moves on to face yet another showdown with perennial power John Curtis Christian next Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Joe Yenni Stadium while St. Augustine (2-2, 1-1) plays next Saturday afternoon at Archbishop Shaw at 2 p.m.

FINAL

RUMMEL 10 14 0 7 31

ST. AUG 0 6 7 6 19

First Downs:

Rummel 12

St Aug 22

Penalties:

Rummel 6 for 60 yards

St. Aug 8 for 66 yards

Sacks:

Rummel 1

St. Aug 2

Turnovers:

Rummel 1

St. Aug 2

Rushing Yards:

Rummel 187

St. Aug 132

Passing Yards:

Rummel 128

St. Aug 231

Total Yards:

Rummel 315

St. Aug 363

Individual Rushing:

Rummel: Logan Diggs 15 carries, 147 yards, 1 touchdown, Kyle Wickersham 7 carries, 35 yards, Daniel Sabido 5 carries, 5 yards

St. Aug: 15 carries, 62 yards, Albert Quest V 14 carries, 53 yards, Wendell Newton 3 carries, 18 yards, Keilon Pritchett 3 carries, 2 yards, Javen Nicholas 1 carry, -3 yards

Individual Passing:

Rummel: Kyle Wickersham 10-of-19 for 128 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception

St. Augustine Passing:

Kendell Sampson 22-of-40 for 231 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions

Rummel Receiving:

Nicholas Howard 3 catches, 63 yards, 2 touchdowns, Logan Diggs 3 catches for 15 yards, Keith Robertson, 2 catches, 34 yards, Tyronne Hayes 2 catches, 16 yards, 1 touchdown

St. Augustine Receiving:

Carl Singleton 8 catches, 107 yards, 1 touchdown, Albert Quest V 4 catches 56 yards, Jason Malbrue 3 catches, 26 yards, 1 touchdowns, Javen Nicholas 3 catches, 7 yards, Tylie Keasley 2 catches, 6 yards, Omari Downs 1 catch, 26 yards, Wendell Newton 1 catch, 3 yards