November 18, 2022
Chat with Coach Bonis #10: Woodlawn Review, St. Augustine Preview
by Brother Neal Golden, S.C. (CJ ’57)
"How many football games have you seen where one team jumped to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, then was outscored 45-0 the rest of the game?
If you were present at Tad Gormley Stadium last Friday night, you would have seen a game like that in the first round of the Select Division I state playoffs. The Woodlawn Panthers from Baton Rouge scored on three consecutive drives in the first quarter to put the Brother Martin Crusaders in a 20-point hole. The third touchdown was set up by a fumbled kickoff. Woodlawn QB Rickie Collins, an LSU commitment, passed and ran for touchdowns of 43, 15, and 24 yards.
A crucial play occurred on the Crusaders’ next possession when a roughing the passer penalty nullified a Woodlawn interception. Given new life, the Martin offense finally got into gear, and QB Seth Dazet connected with Clayton Lonardo slanting over the middle for a 46 yard touchdown to shake the Crusaders out of their doldrums and create excitement on the home side of the field with 1:36 left in the opening period.
With the Martin defense keeping Collins in the pocket and covering his receivers better, momentum shifted to the Crusaders. Their next possession resulted in a second touchdown. This time, Lonardo took the snap from center and ran 18 yards up the middle to make it 20-14 with 10:47 left in the second quarter.
Less than a minute of playing time later, Torey Lambert burst through the right side and sprinted 60 yards for the tying touchdown. Leyton Liuzza’s extra point gave Brother Martin its first lead, 21-20.
The Panthers drove close enough to try a field goal, but it was blocked.
Before the half ended, Lambert scored his second touchdown, prancing over from inside the five. 28-20 Crusaders with only 0:46 left.
While momentum had shifted, Brother Martin fans couldn’t rest easy with just an eight-point lead against Collins and Company. After all, the Panthers had outgained the Crusaders in the first half 314-167 and led in first downs 13 to seven.
But with Lambert gashing the Panther defense to the tune of 254 yards for the evening, the Crusaders added to their lead in the third quarter on Liuzza’s field goal.
A fumble recovery led to Lambert’s third touchdown run, during which he shed multiple defenders. 38-20 with 4:25 left in the third quarter.
Fittingly, the Crusader defense capped off the scoring in the fourth quarter when DE Brenden LeBlanc hit Collins from behind, causing a fumble that DL Nathan Malek scooped up and ran into the end zone.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak in which the Crusaders lost by a combined 13 points.
Coach Mark Bonis says, “We’ve got a lot of new faces on offense, but even when we went down 20-0, our quarterback and a couple of guys said, ‘C’mon, man, it’s a big drive. Let’s go get this.’ We got the big play from Lonardo to make it 20-7. Our offensive guys hadn’t had big point production all year, but they attacked the deficit rep by rep.”
Asked about the slow start for the second game in a row, Bonis replied, “In both games (St. Augustine and Woodlawn), we did some things that were fairly different on the defensive side because of matchups. You don’t always have success when doing new things. You don’t have a whole bunch of reps on it throughout the course of the year.
“We had to do some different things against Woodlawn because of their dual-threat quarterback. Our linebackers helped get pressure up front, and our secondary guys did a great job, once the play broke down, of being disciplined and staying locked up with the receivers.”
Was there any panic on the sideline after the 20-0 start? “Our defense was more mad than anything else. We were upset. I’m sure at 20-0, when he hadn’t had a whole lot of offensive production all year, we had some doubters. Once we scored our first TD to make it 20-7, we had a whole different mindset.
“Our quarterback did a good job of taking what they gave us. Torey ran really well. It’s amazing how just a little bit of success in the RPO (Run-Pass Option) game opens up running lanes. It was our most complete three quarters of the season.”
The Crusaders now face St. Augustine for the second time in the second round of the playoffs. The Purple Knights won 14-13 two weeks ago in the last regular season game.
“Nothing’s changed since last time. They’re very talented. Our defense played well in the first game, but our special teams and offense left a lot to be desired. We’ve had a great week of practice. Our losses didn’t come from a lack of work. We’ve been plugging away. Our guys work really hard. It’s been a tough season with a lot of adversity. But our guys continued to work. I like where we are going into the next game.
“We expect to see two St. Aug. quarterbacks. The guy we saw in the first game was more of a pocket quarterback. The other one was banged up and didn’t play. He is more of a dual-threat guy which we’re prepared for. The offensive line is massive. Our defense has to stand tall again. The first game was a battle on both sides. Both sides were tired.
“#2 and #4 for St. Aug. are two of the best defensive linemen we’ve seen. Their other guys are massive. Whoever wins the trenches will come out victorious.
“We’re excited about playing for an opportunity to reach the quarterfinals. You want to be playing Thanksgiving week. At that point, anything can happen.”
The weather forecast for Friday night calls for temperatures in the low 50s with only a 2% chance of rain.
Don’t miss what promises to be an exciting, hard-fought rematch between the Crusaders and the Purple Knights."
Tickets are only available for purchase online (click the button below). Be sure to join us in support of the Brother Martin football team vs. St. Augustine at Tad Gormley Stadium on Friday, November 18th at 7 PM!
