Archbishop Rummel’s junior running back duo was on full display Friday to help open up a defensive slugfest against University Lab in the Caesars Superdome.
Jaden Terrance corralled a bouncing kickoff and torched the return 97 yards to a lead and a spark heading into the locker room as the final seconds of the first half ticked off the clock.
And Coryan Hawkins‘ vision and power behind the Raiders’ big offensive line helped gradually take further control in the second half en route to a 30-17 victory.
“Fourth quarter, I thought our offensive line finally started to wear on ’em a little bit,” coach Nick Monica said. “I thought our defense played really well tonight. We gave up one at the end right there that we shouldn’t have done. But, yeah, I think our offensive line took over in the second half, and we were kinda able to lean on the guys which we need to be able to do.”
Neither team could find the end zone until an 8-yard pass from senior quarterback Ethan McGlynn to Southeastern Louisiana commit Lawson Dixon gave U-High a 7-3 lead with 17 seconds left in the second quarter.
But Terrance provided the immediate answer and a huge boost for the Raiders to build upon after the break with the 10-7 edge.
“Once I saw the lane, I just knew I had to hit it,” he said. “I did a lot of training in the offseason with my coaches, so once I knew I could hit it, I just used my speed, and nobody could catch me… It was a big energy spark for us, because you never want to be down going into half and you know the other team gets the ball back. So that really shifted the momentum a lot for us.”
Rummel seniors Chris Parker Jr. and Carlin Kinchen Jr. combined to force and recovery a fumble, respectively, in the opening plays of the third quarter to reset the game’s defensive tone after the pre-half scoring flurry.
U-High tied the game, 10-10, midway through the third with a 42-yard Mason Melancon field goal.
But the Raiders grind their next possession down the field for an eventual go-ahead score as another junior duo, quarterback Tyler Holden and Mark Shezbie Jr., connected on the 20-yard play-action pass.
And senior interior linemen Jaden Dillon, Armando Reyes and Jewlz Barthelemy, sophomore tackles Raymond Hughes and Michael Smith and sophomore tight end Ja’Marcus Jones began generating bigger push and paving wider running lanes as the half wore on.
“Once (the offensive line) got together, everything just went smooth from there,” Hawkins said. “Our O-line saw they were tired, and it was just crunch time.”
He and Terrance, the Raiders’ own thunder-and-lightning tandem, combined for more than 230 yards, according to NOLA.com.
Hawkins made his way to the end zone early in the fourth to double Rummel’s lead to 24-10 and then factored heavily in setting up a Holden-to-Jones score later in the quarter that all but sealed the victory, 30-10.
McGlynn went to Dixon early and often on the subsequent U-High drive, all the way to a long touchdown to cap the latter’s reported 12-catches, 121-yard performance.
But the Raiders were able to secure the ensuing onside kick and run out the remaining clock.
“It feels good, especially coming off of last week,” Monica said. “I felt like last week right before half and this week right before half was almost identical — identical scores, the way it happened was almost identical. So we challenged the kids at halftime to finish this one. And they did.”