Colton Nussmeier and Archbishop Rummel were knocked down repeatedly Friday — but never out.
Instead, the senior quarterback and his new teammates regrouped and mounted a late 36-second, 73-yard drive to stun host University Lab, 34-28, in the matchup headlined by the official Louisiana debuts of Nussmeier and his Cubs counterpart Knox Kiffin.
“It was a sloppy – a lot of penalties offensively — but we found a way, and that’s what you’ve gotta do in football,” Nussmeier said. “You’ve gotta find a way to win, and that’s what we did. You know, God had a plan for us, and we went through with it.”
Nussmeier dropped back on a third-and-long near midfield with less than a minute remaining and found junior Kirby Cade Jr. in a pocket in the defense for the conversion, then hit senior Nathaniel “Boo” Singleton Jr. moments later on a quick throw outside.
Each receiver slipped by the first defender to the play to pick up big chunks of yardage after the catch, with Singleton spinning off a late break by the cornerback and accelerating to the end zone out of reach of the other Cubs giving chase.
“We knew we had the playmakers to push down the field and go score, so our coach trusted us and we got it done,” Singleton said. “Colton just told me if the cornerback was off, he was coming to me on the hitch. I knew I had to catch it and go make a play. It felt great. I injured myself sophomore year, last year didn’t really get a chance to play receiver because of the quarterback situation, so it really felt great. I’m not gonna lie.”
Nussmeier finished 17-for-32 for 288 yards and two scores, plus 35-yard touchdown scamper among a few rushing highlights, despite exiting the game at least three times in the second half in apparent pain.
“I’ve gotta get in shape — I’m cramping,” he admitted with a smile. “That’s the main part. I wasn’t really — not really pain, more of cramping.”
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Georgia commit was far from alone there as players on each team, including Singleton, battled the issue on humid Baton Rouge night in their season opener.
Players and coaches continued to navigate the lineup accordingly, including reserves chipping in key moments such as sophomore Beau Stevens relieving Nussmeier for a couple noncontinuous snaps on the Raiders’ penultimate possession and delivering completions to help improve field position.
“The thing I’m most proud of is we had some third-stringers on the field for the entire fourth quarter and a lot of the third quarter, and you couldn’t tell at times,” Rummel coach Nick Monica said. “So I’m really proud of those guys for being ready. I don’t know if there’s something in the water over here or what, but we were cramping and they weren’t, and they had guys going both ways, so I don’t know what the hell was going on.
“But, yeah, I think just the resiliency that we were able to do it. We told the kids before the game and at halftime that the tougher team was gonna win and they needed to show that, and I think they did.”
The Raiders couldn’t connect on a fourth-and-5 from the 30-yard line with 2:25 remaining, but forced a quick three-and-out highlighted by a pair of disruptive plays by Nicholls State-committed defensive tackle Russ Lewis Jr.
And with one more opportunity and 1:11 on the clock, Nussemeier and company would not be denied again.
“He’s made us a lot more balanced, and he’s got some guys to throw to,” Monica said. “And I know both of the backs went down early. We had to rely on him a little bit more. And a couple of our seniors came back in after cramping up and made some plays in the passing game right there, too, to help him out. I was proud of the composure because at times tonight we didn’t have any, but we had it when we needed it most.”
This article will be further updated…
