Leps Stun Rockdale With Last Second Block, Return
With one jump into the night sky, Bravion Rogers changed the direction of a football, a game and a young season.
In an ending so stunning it almost had to be seen to be believed, the Leps snagged a 35-29 victory from the brink of defeat in the season opener in Rockdale.
Down by seven the Leps scored to tied the game at 29-29 with just 1:31 left, but Rockdale answered with a quick 49-yard march to set up a game-winning 33-yard field goal try with ten seconds left in the game.
But Rogers had other ideas, blocking the field goal try. Then the two-time state track meet silver medalist scooped up the ball himself and no one was going to catch him as he returned it 77 yards for a touchdown as time expired.
“When we lined up I was like, ‘I’m getting this,’ And then when I picked it up, it was like a dream,” Rogers said.
“These kids kept believing, and then what a play by Bravion at the end,” La Grange head coach Matt Kates said. “And at the end he was thanking his teammates because he knew that whole side had to do their job to get him there (to make the final play), and he went and got it.”
On a night when La Grange was whistled for an exhausting 19 penalties for 151 yards, the Leps sideline held their collective breaths until Rogers’ touchdown was officially singled good before storming the field in a wild celebration.
“What these kids had to overcome, holy cow,” Kates said. “It was sloppy but the kids kept believing.”
The victory vaults the Leps into their home opener this week against Canyon Lake, which lost to Wimberley 20-3 last week. “Getting some momentum like this, maybe we can ride it into next week against a really good Canyon Lake team that is completely different from Rockdale,” Kates said.
Friday’s ending capped a three-hour marathon of seasonopening sloppiness (Rockdale itself was whistled for 12 penalties for 73 yards, and La Grange lost three interceptions).
But the Leps never broke.
And time and again, La Grange back-ups took their place in the spotlight in this one.
Twice Rogers was shaken up on running plays and had to head to the sideline, and twice Ryder Imhoff replaced Rogers under center and scored touchdowns.
“I’m always going to be right there for him. If he goes down, I’m jumping right in,” Imhoff said.
When starting kicker Phillip Arceneaux was suffering from cramps (understandably because he was also a starting defensive back and had a game-saving pass deflection in the closing seconds) it was Brendan Maddox, who stepped in and booted a go-ahead point-after in the third quarter and a game-tying PAT in the fourth quarter.
“On my first kick we had a penalty and had to move back and I heard one of their D-lineman say ‘they can’t make it from this far and I was like, ‘Dude, I warm up from here.’” Maddox said. “On the second one I was feeling a little nervous, but I just told myself I can do this, I do this every day.”
The way the game ended, every single point was magnified. After all, if the game wasn’t tied at the end, Rockdale would have run out the clock instead of kicking a field goal.
Rogers ended the game, but the Leps D-I recruit was a big part of the start too. The Leps left no doubt how they planned to move the ball early in this one.
Lining up in the old single wing formation early, Rogers started at quarterback and kept the ball himself on the first four plays from scrimmage. Lulling the Rockdale defense to sleep with running plays on the first eight plays, the Leps then scored a touchdown to cap their first possession with a 14-yard pass from Rogers to Andrew Faske.
Rockdale and La Grange then traded touchdowns. The Tigers scored on a Blaydn Barcak pass to Wyatt Windham, and La Grange on a Rogers’ four-yard run.
The Leps re-took the lead at 15-14 midway through the second quarter when a Rockdale fumble went out of the back of the endzone. Little did anyone know how big those two points would eventually loom.
Rockdale took a 21-15 lead into halftime thanks to a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown by Gerren Marrero.
La Grange tied the game at 21-21 on a 17-yard run by Imhoff and then Maddox’s first PAT put La Grange up 22-21 with 3:11 left in the third quarter.
La Grange was pinned deep in their own territory with 4:35 left, and, unable to get a first down, gave the ball back to Rockdale with 2:52 left in the fourth quarter. The Tigers needed only one play to go ahead as Barcak found a wide open Robert Owens for a 28-yard touchdown. They made the two point conversion to up their lead to 29-22.
La Grange got the ball back at their 39 yard line.
Senior quarterback Clay Wolff (who split time with Rogers at the position and ran for for 31 yards and threw for 91) moved the ball down the field with his legs and his arm, but the Leps faced a fourth-and-two at the Tigers 40-yard line with 1:57 left.
Rogers went back in at quarterback and ran for 20 yards on that fourth down play and 17 yards more a play later.
But he was shaken up on the play and Imhoff finished the drive with a three-yard keeper.
Maddox again made a clutch kick, this time to tie it at 29-29.
But the 1:31 left on the clock was almost enough for a Rockdale rally.
Instead it was the Leps celebrating a last second win on Rockdale’s turf before heading home to play their first ever game on their new artificial turf.
“This game really sets a statement for the whole season,” Imhoff said.
La Grange 35,Rockdale 29
Scoring summary
First Quarter
LA GRANGE – 7:44, Andrew Faske 14 pass from Bravion Rogers (run fails)
ROCKDALE – 1:14, Wyatt Windham 23 pass from Blaydn Barcak (Daniel Romero kick)
Second Quarter
LA GRANGE – 10:02, Rogers 4 run (Phillip Arceneaux kick)
ROCKDALE – 7:32, Barcak 2 run (Daniel Romero kick)
LA GRANGE – Safety (Rockdale fumble out of back of endzone)
ROCKDALE – 2:28, Gerren Marrero 64 yard interception return (Romero kick)
Third Quarter
LA GRANGE – 3:11, Ryder Imhoff 17 run (Brendan Maddox kick)
Fourth Quarter
ROCKDALE – 2:27, Robert Owens 28