FeedsEagles fly by Robichaud
Chalk one up for Romulus Coach Matt Ladach.
He earned his first victory as head coach of the team—on any team, actually—when his Eagles shutout Dearborn Heights Robichaud, 20-0, at home on Friday night.
“As the first game as a head coach I was nervous,” Ladach said. “It felt good to get out there, though. We’ve waited all off-season to get it going; it was nice. It was a big test for us all. I just wanted to call the plays and let the kids go out there and do what they could.”
He said the game was closer than the 20-0 score indicated. Romulus scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to wrap up the victory.
It looked like the Bulldogs were going to move ahead early. On their opening drive Robichaud converted a third and long play, but Romulus’ Donzell Carter intercepted a pass in the end zone to snuff out the drive, according to Ladach. He said both teams played solid defense after that, resulting in a 0-0 tie at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter heated up.
Romulus sophomore quarterback Ondre Mathews tossed a 57-yarder to junior wideout Justin Price. That gave Romulus a first-and-goal at the five. Junior running back Mario Crawford was caught in the backfield on second-and-two for an 11-yard loss. Then Mathews was sacked. On fourth down senior kicker/fullback/linebacker Cedric Smith missed the field goal attempt.
Robichaud gained possession on downs but fumbled the ball right in to Smith’s hands. He ran it in for a touchdown. The Eagles were unsuccessful with the two-point conversion ending the half with Romulus leading, 6-0.
The third ended with Robichaud deep in its own end after Romulus turned the ball over twice within the Bulldogs’ 25-yard line.
At the top of the fourth Robichaud was faced with a fourth-and-long inside its 10. The Bulldogs opted to take a safety, giving the Eagles an 8-0 advantage.
On the Eagles’ next drive junior running back Jeff Williams raced 28 yards to the Bulldogs’ four. Two plays later, he lunged in for the score. Smith’s kick went wide right but the touchdown put Romulus up 14-0.
On the next drive Crawford bounced outside for a 42-yard scoring run. The gain made it 20-0 after a missed field goal attempt. After that the game was in the defense’s hands. Robichaud trudged deep into Romulus territory but failed to convert on fourth down. Romulus regained possession and took a knee to end the game.
“The game was much closer than the 20-0 score,” Ladach said. “Both teams had week-one rust. We said before the game that whoever made the least amount of mistakes would win.”
Romulus had three penalties: two false starts and one 15-yard unsportsmanlike for celebration for a total of 25 yards. Robichaud had two big penalties that negated very big plays. One would have put them at the 1-yard line and one that cost them a 30-plus yard run inside of the Eagles’ 25. Robichaud turned the ball over four times to Romulus’ two.
Mathews was 2-for-9 for 77 yards. Crawford led the ground attack with 64 yards on 15 carries and a TD.
Defense is where Romulus stood out. Crawford, playing at defensive back, racked up 12 tackles—nine of them solo. Joe Kiesznowski earned five solo tackles and five assists. Smith added eight more tackles for the defensive unit and forced one fumble and recovered two others—one was returned for a score.
“I’m a defensive guy,” Ladach said. “I’ve always been a defensive coach but I’ve always wanted to coach the offensive line. I like to call offensive plays that can compliment our defense—offense wins games and defense wins championships.”
Romulus will host Redford Thurston on at 7 p.m. tonight.
