Week 11: Jesuit’s Playoff Hopes Crashed by Rummel

Cameron Crozier (54) and Nathan Farley (33) put the clamps on this Raider running back in the opening series.

Into the Lens: View the Jesuit – Rummel Playoff Photo Gallery

View All the Blue Jay Football Galleries from the 2016 Season

The 2016 Jesuit football season came to an early end at Joe Yenni Stadium, an unfriendly field where the Blue Jays just don’t seem to play well.

Michael Hull escaped with his jersey from this Raider after intercepting a pass and returning the ball 29 yards to the Raiders’ 22-yard line.

After going 5-5 in 10 games of the regular season, the Jays came into the opening round of the Division 1 select playoffs as the ninth seed. The Jays drew a familiar opponent in eighth-seeded Rummel, which once held the top seed among the 13 division teams before finishing the regular schedule with three straight losses. As the lower seed, the Jays were the visitors and would have to play on the Raiders’ home field, which happens to be Joe Yenni Stadium.

It was scarcely a month ago that Jesuit lost a 17-10 district game to Rummel at Yenni. But the Jays had given the Raiders a good run for the money, and moved the ball up and down the field while accumulating 274 yards of offense. The Jays just couldn’t score a touchdown when they needed to against the Raiders’ vaunted defense.

Bryce Musso is flipped over while returning a Raider kickoff in the second quarter.

Coach Mark Songy was hoping that the playoff contest on Saturday, November 12 — the second time around — would be different for the Blue Jays. Alas, what turned out to be the only playoff game for the Jays this season was different in that the disappointing 24-10 loss to Rummel was worse than the Week 7 defeat. The Raiders also brought down the curtain on Jesuit’s season, just like they did in the 2015 season when they knocked out the Jays in the second round of playoffs with a lopsided 44-14 win at Yenni.

What dogged this year’s Blue Jays in their six losses and helped bring down the curtain on the 2016 season was a lackluster, woeful, and inconsistent offense. Additionally, when the Jays’ solid defense was left on the field far too long in a game, they became exhausted and susceptible to getting burned on their opponents’ big plays.

Perry Ganci (98) drags down this Raider early in the game as Matt McMahon (41) backs him up.

Against the Raiders in Saturday night’s playoff, it was the mightiest of struggles for the Jays offensively in which they experienced their lowest output in 11 games.  The Jays mustered only 181 yards of offense: 57 on the ground and 124 in the air. That’s 93 fewer yards than what they achieved against Rummel in Week 7. That’s 18 fewer yards than the 199 yards of offense generated in the 28-10 loss to Brother Martin in Week 10. Prior to the Crusaders, the Jays managed 203 yards of offense in their 14-7 loss to John Curtis in Week 6.

What has the coaches scratching their heads is that the Jays were offensively spectacular in four of their five wins this season, scoring at will against teams with decent defenses and running up big scores, including Escambia, FL (34-13); Holy Cross (38-0); Shaw (44-0); and Franklinton (56-21).

On third and 12 yards, quarterback Denny McGinnis finds Elijah Morgan open. The 20-yard pass play gets Jesuit its first first down of the game with 7 minutes left in the third quarter.

“We just didn’t play well,” said Coach Songy after the loss to Rummel in the playoffs. “I’m at a loss for words. I keep asking the same questions of the same people. I have no explanation for it. We just didn’t play well.”

Jesuit kicked off to Rummel to start the game and on the second play from scrimmage, a Raider running back caught a screen pass and scampered 75 yards, all the way to the 4-yard line before defensive back Michael Hull knocked him out of bounds. But the Jays on defense rose to the occasion and stopped the Raiders cold (a holding penalty against Rummel helped). On fourth and 14, Rummel kicked a 31-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Jays went three and out, and punted. Rummel mounted a drive and reached Jesuit’s 31-yard line. But on fourth and one, Jesuit’s defensive line refused to budge and the Raiders turned the ball over. On third down and six from Jesuit’s 36-yard line, quarterback Alex Watermeier threw the first of two interceptions (his second one came in the closing seconds of the first half). Later in the game, quarterback Denny McGinnis threw a third interception.

Will Robinson IV turns the corner and picks up some yardage, but the play is nullified by a holding penalty.

Rummel scored its first touchdown, an 8-yard pass, to take a 10-0 lead with 9:00 remaining in the second quarter. It was three and out once again for the Jays on the ensuing kickoff. But the Jays caught a break on Rummel’s next possession. Michael Hull made a great interception of a Rummel pass and, zigzagging right and left, brought the ball back some 34 yards to the Raiders’ 22-yard line.

Another three and out for the Jays, and kicker Jake Chanove lined up for a 34-yard field goal with just over 5:00 left in the second quarter. Chanove sent this one through the uprights to put the Jays on the board. Chanove finished the season kicking 13 of 16 attempted field goals, including two good from 42 yards. His bantam foot was perfect on 28 PATs this season (a 29^th PAT was kicked by Max Scheurich). Chanove also handled the kickoff and punting chores for the Jays. His five punts in the playoff game brought his total punts this season to 48, with each averaging 35.1 yards. (His shortest punt was 11 yards, his longest 53 yards). Chanove kicked off 49 times; four were recovered kickoffs; eight kickoffs were “deep,” including five touchbacks.

The Jesuit Cheerleaders “sock” it to the Blue Jay students and supporters at Joe Yenni Stadium.

Forty-five seconds after Chanove’s field goal, Rummel scored a second touchdown on a 75-yard burst up the middle to extend the lead to 17-3. Ashton Loria fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Rummel recovered on the 20-yard line. The Raiders tacked on a third second quarter touchdown, the proverbial nail in the coffin, by completing a 15-yard pass into the end zone. Jesuit got the ball back with 90 seconds left in the first half. On second and 10 from Jesuit’s 20-yard line, Watermeier threw his second interception. With nine seconds left in the first half, Rummel attempted a 19-yard field goal that sailed wide. But the Raiders had an almost insurmountable 24-3 halftime lead. The Jays had yet to make a first down.

“The second quarter had a lot of big plays and we didn’t get anything going offensively,” said Coach Songy. “I don’t know what to say about that.”

The Jays finally notched a first down with seven minutes left in the third quarter (Jesuit ended up with seven first downs in the game). On third and 12, McGinnis, who occasionally alternated with Watermeier, threw a 20-yard completion to Elijah Morgan. Three downs later, the Jays punted. Three downs later, Rummel punted. So went the scoreless third quarter, and much of the same in the fourth quarter. Watermeier played most of the game at quarterback. The New Orleans Advocate has Jesuit completing 12 of 31 passes. Most of the completions were by Watermeier, a junior whose year in varsity boot camp should serve the team well in 2017.

The Jays held Rummel scoreless in the second half. But the Raiders were almost equally stingy on defense, until there were four minutes remaining in the game. The Jays had been knocking on the door in the Raiders’ red zone. On fourth down at the five yard line, Watermeier rolled right and hit Bryce Musso with a pass at the goal line. Musso fell into the end zone for Jesuit’s lone touchdown of the game. Too little, too late.

As Coach Songy walked towards the 100-plus Blue Jay players waiting for him in the end zone, he said this season was “up and down. We played a very tough schedule, we played inconsistently, but we always played hard.”

Read Moe…

SportsNola.com: Rummel snaps losing streak with playoff win over Jesuit

The New Orleans Advocate: No worries: Rummel opens playoffs with win over Jesuit

Nola.com: Rummel 24, Jesuit 10: Raiders defense holds Jays to 30 first-half yards, then cruises