St. Augustine blows past De La Salle, 38-20

NEW ORLEANS – Vengeance is mine. It is a Biblical principle.

On Thursday night, St. Augustine had a load of it in store for De La Salle.

The Cavaliers spanked St. Augustine, 38-12, a year ago. The memories were long for Purple Knight players and coaches.

Then, there was the matter of disputing when to play the game this week.

Tropical Storm Gordon caused both schools to close Tuesday and Wednesday, though the teams were able to practice. St. Augustine wanted the game moved back two days to Saturday while De La Salle wanted to keep the game as scheduled.

As the home team, De La Salle prevailed on the matter. Game night was a different story.

St. Augustine (2-0) unleashed a host of talented skill players and extracted revenge in a 38-20 victory Thursday night in a game aired live on WGSO 990 AM.

“This year a certain amount of events took place and it was very disappointing. We go from a Saturday to a Thursday game with a short week and I was disappointed that De La Salle wouldn’t change the day of the game. We only had one day to practice (with the storm), and I was disappointed with that,” said Purple Knights head coach Nathaniel Jones. “We’re in the business of mentoring kids and growing young men, not worried about a gate or anything of that nature. So, I’m proud of the way my guys played, but disappointed in the De La Salle leadership.”

The loss snapped a 21-game regular season win streak for De La Salle (1-1).

“It was special to win 21 straight regular season games,” De La Salle head coach Ryan Manale said. “We play really good teams that get us ready for district. Hats off to every player who has been involved in that 21-game streak. We just need to go back and work to get better. Of course, it gets even tougher with Karr next week. We simply need to continue to grow as a team, to play hard.”

St. Augustine quarterback Trevon Woodson was very efficient, throwing 19-24 for 248 yards with one touchdown and also rushing for 11 times for 51 yards. Woodson connected with wideout Broderick Martin on a 10-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

The Purple Knights finished with 200 rushing yards in total. Running back Mahmoud Bailey led the team, rushing 11 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns.

St. Augustine’s pass defense was impressive, allowing just 66 yards through the air and finishing with four sacks.

The Purple Knights started the game well, setting the tone for what would be a series of long drives all night, driving 80 yards don an 11-play drive capped by Bailey’s one-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.

After a field goal by Jaron Marks and Bailey’s second touchdown, the lead ballooned to 17-0 in the second quarter.

The Cavs made things interesting. Before the half, De La Salle fashioned a 10-play, 79-yard drive capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Fisher Rojas to Ivan Paz to make it 17-7 at the half.

Things got even more interesting when De La Salle took the second half kickoff and drove 55 yards in six plays with senior Kendall Collins scoring on a 12-yard run to cut the deficit to 17-14.

That was the closest De La Salle would get.

On the next St. Aug possession, Bailey scored his third touchdown of the night on a 13-yard run to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive and it was 24-14.

On the final play of the third quarter, quarterback Trevon Woodson connected with wideout Broderick Martin for a 10-yard touchdown to make it 31-14.

St. Aug special teams got into the act as Christopher Confident blocked a punt and Jabaz Myles recovered in the end zone for a score to increase the lead to 38-14 early in the fourth quarter. De La Salle closed the scoring on a 10-yard pass from Rojas to Paz in the final minute of the contest.

Woodson was very efficient, completing 18-of-22 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown and rushing 11 times for 51 yards.

There was much to be taken from the rough night for De La Salle.

“I think it was a 100 percent learning experience,” Manale said. “I am proud of the passion and effort of our seniors. They played De La Salle football. We had a lot of experienced that I hope grew up tonight. There were 50-50 balls we did not win and we could not execute consistently on offense or find a way to get off the field. That’s what happens when you have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing. Hats off to St. Aug. They were prepared and they were good. We are a team with a target on our back.”

The Purple Knights will look to stay unbeaten a week from Saturday against John F. Kennedy at Tad Gormley Stadium while the Cavaliers take on another stiff challenge next Friday night against two-time defending Class 4A state champion Edna Karr at Behrman Stadium.

Final
SA 7 10 14 7 — 38
DLS 0 7 7 6 — 20

Scoring
1st Qtr.
SA—Mahmoud Bailey, 1-yard run (Jaron Marks kick) 7-0 @7:11 1st. 11 plays, 80 yards 4:49

2nd Qtr.
SA—Jaron Marks, 20-yd. field goal 10-0 @ 6:59 2nd. 15 plays, 80 yards, 6:41
SA—Mahmoud Bailey, 8-yd. run (Jaron Marks kick) 17-0 @ 1:22 2nd. 9 plays, 72 yards, 2:18
DLS—Ivan Paz, 9-yd. pass from Fisher Rojas (Blake Giacone kick) 17-7 at :08 2nd. 10 plays, 79 yds., 1:08

3rd Qtr.
DLS—Kendall Collins, 12-yd. run (Blake Giacone kick) 17-14 @ 9:53-3rd. 6 plays, 55 yds., 2:05
SA—Mahmoud Bailey, 13-yd. run (Jaron Marks kick) 24-14 @ 7:17 3rd. 8 plays, 80 yds., 2:38
SA—Broderick Martin, 10-yd. pass from Trevon Woodson (Jaron Marks kick) 31-14 end 3rd. 10 plays, 58 yds., 5:02

4th Qtr.
SA—Christopher Confident blocked punt, Jabaz Myles recovery for TD (Jaron Marks kick) 38-14 @ 9:13 4th
DLS—Ivan Paz, 10-yd. pass from Fisher Rojas (Blake Giacone kick) 38-20 @ :14-4th. 7 plays, 70 yds., 2:11

Rushing
SA 200
DLS 172

Passing
SA 265
DLS 66

Total Yards
SA 465
DLS 238

Penalties
SA 7 for 72 yds.
DLS 6 for 70 yds.

Sacks
SA 4
DLS 1

Turnovers
SA 0
DLS 0

First Downs
SA 22
DLS 20

SA Individual Rushing
Mahmoud Bailey 11 carries for 69 yds, 3 TD’s
Justin Doyle 9 carries for 52 yds.
Trevon Woodson 11 carries for 51 yds.
Shan Brooks 3 carries for 20 yds.
Shamaul McKnight 1 carry for 3 yds.
Keilon Pritchett 1 carry for 7 yds.
Broderick Martin 3 carries for 2 yds.

SA Passing
Trevon Woodson 18-of-22 for 265 yds. 1 TD

SA Receiving
Broderick Martin 5 catches for 94 yds. & 1 TD
Mahmoud Bailey 4 catches for 45 yds.
Khi Mathieu 2 catches for 50 yds.
Devin Coatney 2 catches for 33 yds.
Tylie Keasley 2 catches for 31 yds.
De’Andre Cooper 1 catch for 6 yds.
Shamaul McKnight 1 catch for 5 yds.
Justin Doyle 1 catch for 1 yd.

DLS Individual Rushing
Kendall Collins 19 carries for 106 yds. & 1 TD
Richon Porter 2 carries for 15 yds.
Montrell Johnson 4 carries for 14 yds.
De’Anta LeBranch 4 carries for 14 yds.
Damaine Thomas 1 carry for 3 yds.
Fisher Rojas 6 carries for 11 yds.

DLS Passing
Fisher Rojas 5-for-12 for 66 yds., 2 TD’s

DLS Receiving
Ivan Paz 4 catches for 49 yds. and 2 TD’s
Kendall Collins 1 catch for 7 yds.