Sacred Heart may be the new kids on the block when it comes to playoff football, but the Crusaders look like they might want to settle in for awhile.
Hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history, and in just their second postseason game ever, the Crusaders shrugged off a slow start and rolled over Noxapater 36-8 Friday night at Klein Field in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.
Sacred Heart improved to 10-1 overall and advanced to the second round, where the Crusaders will travel to Hollandale to face Simmons. Noxapater finished its season 4-7.
“This was a complete team win,” said Sacred Heart coach Ed Smith. “All three phases of the game played well – offense, defense, kicking game – and we were able to turn it around after we started out kind of flat.”
At the start, it looked like Noxapater, a program with plenty of playoff experience, might run the Crusaders out of the stadium.
The Tigers took the opening kickoff of the game and marched 65 yards in eight plays for a touchdown, utilizing a power running game behind a big, physical offensive line.
“They’ve got some big guys with good speed, and they don’t have very many seniors,” said Smith. “I’m glad they’re not in our district, because I think they’re going to be really good next year.”
However, the touchdown came on a 33-yard pass from senior Kaden Carter to sophomore JyKavious Riddle. Junior Demarkus McCully ran the conversion to give Noxapater an 8-0 lead.
“I’m not going to lie, we were all surprised,” said sophomore safety Chris Posey. “They were just pounding it every play, it seemed like.
“I knew we would have an answer to it, because we’ve done it so many times this season. Our coaches had confidence in us. Once we got a stop, there was a momentum shift, and we took it from there.”
Sacred Heart got one first down on a 42-yard run by senior D.J. Booth, but the Crusader drive fizzled out and the Tigers got the ball right back.
Although that drive came to nothing, it was an early sign of things to come for Sacred Heart. Booth, who came into the game with 1,127 rushing yards this season, swept around left end behind excellent downfield blocking to set the tone for the Crusader offense.
“That first play, I just saw nothing but the whole green turf right there,” said Booth. “I had no choice but to hit it. Props to my o-line, props for my receivers for blocking downfield. It was just a great designed play.”
Booth was the workhorse for Sacred Heart, running 29 times for 205 yards and he scored two touchdowns.
However, there were more anxious moments for the Crusaders after Noxapater got the ball for its second possession.
Once again, the Tigers churned out yards and ate up the clock. McCully had a big 24-yard run, and sophomore A.J. Robertson had a 19-yard carry to give Noxapater a first-and-goal at the Crusader 10-yard-line.
But on the first play, Robertson was stopped for a 3-yard loss, and the Crusaders forced an errant pass on fourth down at the 10 to stop the threat. It would proved to be the turning point in the game.
“That was a big play for us,” said Smith. “We talked about that, because we gave up a lot of yards for them to get down there.
“We called time out to kind of challenge the guys to make a stop. I didn’t feel like they could kick a field goal, so we knew it was going to be a four-down situation. We told the guys we needed to make a stop and they did it.”
Up to that point, with 25 seconds left in the first quarter, the Tigers had possessed the ball for nine minutes, 42 seconds, picked up eight first downs and had racked up 141 yards of offense.
After that, Noxapater would only get five more first downs, keep the ball just slightly over 12 minutes and pick up 95 more yards, as Sacred Heart flipped the script.
“Our edge rushers, (Eli) Bullock and Adam (Sneed) are always back there,” said Posey, who had two interceptions in the second half. “Both of my picks, the quarterback was on the run from the pressure. It puts me in position to make plays that really aren’t that hard to make.”
Sacred Heart didn’t turn it completely around after getting the big stop, but the Crusaders got enough done to get their bearings before being stopped on fourth down at the Noxapater 34.
Junior quarterback Kyron Murphy connected with junior Gary Duckworth for a 40-yard pass play, and Murphy also had an 11-yard pickup to sophomore Luke Davey. Murphy began using play-action to great effect to put the Tigers back on their heels.
“Coach Ed has been talking to me all week about reading the backside end,” said Murphy. “We knew that was going to be a huge factor. The play-action really helped us draw the safety down, and get the ball over the top.”
After a three-and-out, Sacred Heart got right back to business. Taking over at their own 41, the Crusaders marched briskly down the field in nine plays, scoring on a 9-yard pass from Murphy to Davey. Austin Nguyen’s PAT kick narrowed the margin to 8-7.
And the kicking game quickly came through for Sacred Heart. The Tigers muffed the kickoff and the Crusaders recovered the ball at the Noxapater 10. Booth ran three times to cover the yardage, taking a direct snap for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:41 to play before halftime.
“We talked at halftime about playing better up front,” Smith said. “Our front seven on defense and our offensive line were going to determine the outcome of this game in the second half, and they did what we asked them to do.”
Indeed, the Crusaders came out for the second half and simply buried Noxapater in as dominant a third quarter as one will ever see.
Sacred Heart took the opening kickoff and needed just five plays to cover 73 yards. The big play was a 52-yard strike from Murphy to Duckworth to the Tiger 1-yard-line, then Smith employed some trickery for the score, with Booth passing to Murphy for the score.
Murphy hooked up with Davey for a PAT pass and a 22-8 lead.
“That felt great,” said Murphy. “I don’t think I’ve ever caught a touchdown pass before. It was fun. This offense is fun when it’s working the way it’s supposed to, like it did tonight.”
After a quick three-and-out, it was more of the same, with Booth and Murphy trading body blows to the Tiger defense on another 73-yard scoring drive, this one using 11 plays and nearly six minutes off the clock.
Booth had runs of 8 and 26 yards, Murphy had an 8-yard run on the read option and converted a third down near midfield on a 5-yard pickup. But it was Booth who got the money carries, including the touchdown on a 4-yard run.
“Without our line, none of this is possible,” said Booth. “We just never got out of the game. We made sure they never came back, made sure we stayed on the task we were focused on.
Noxapater finally got its offense recharged, taking a short kickoff from the Tiger 43 to a first down at the Crusader 19. Robertson had runs of 10 and 19 yards on the drive. But an ill-advised pass ended up in the hands of Posey to halt the drive.
Sacred Heart wasn’t able to do much on that drive, and a short punt gave Noxapater the ball at the Crusader 42. Carter converted a fourth down with a 10-yard pass and a third down with a 15-yard pass to the Sacred Heart 15.
But once again the Crusader defense stepped up and stopped the threat on fourth down.
And the Crusaders put an exclamation point on their victory with an 89 yard drive in just six plays. Booth’s last run of the night went for 31 yards and Murphy got the touchdown on a 35-yard scamper.
“D.J. had a great game and this was by far Kyron’s best game of the season,” said Smith. “We’re getting better every week, and that’s all you can ask these kids to do. They’re a lot of fun to watch.”
For the night, Murphy completed 7 of 10 passes for 132 yards, and he ran six times for 68 yards. In all, Sacred Heart had 408 yards of offense, including 275 yards on the ground.
The task awaiting Sacred Heart next week is a stiff one. Simmons has three state championships to its credit in six state finals appearances. From 2015 to 2018, the Blue Devils won 54 straight games, one of the longest winning streaks in state history.
Simmons (10-0), the top seed from Region 5-1A, blasted Stringer 64-12 its first round game.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Murphy. “But I think we’re just as ready as they are. We’ve had big games, we’ve won big games, comeback games, so I think we’re ready.”
