 |
| - Derik Holtmann/BND |
St. Louis-- O'Fallon defensive lineman L.J. Rodgers was in the right place at the right time---twice. Rodgers returned two fumbles for touchdowns to help the O'Fallon Panthers put up 50 points in the first half and roll past the Belleville West Maroons 50-3 Friday night at the Edward Jones Dome in the American Football Classic.
Rodgers had a 30-yard fumble return late in the first quarter and a 29-yard fumble return in the second quarter."I was just lucky," Rodgers said. "I happened to be in the right spot at the right time to scoop and score. That's what this defense is all about. Coach (Keith) Albers is always telling us, 'Scoop and score, scoop and score. Get six points. If you see the ball on the ground, just go get it.'"
For a defensive lineman, that's like winning the lottery twice.
"The first time was like, 'The ball is my hands, I actually have it.' All I saw was end zone," Rodgers said. "The second time I kind of froze. I couldn't believe the ball was in my hands again. I just went ahead and took off."
"What are the odds of that?" O'Fallon coach Brandon Joggerst said of Rodgers' good fortune. "If I remember correct, I think we've had three defensive linemen score touchdowns on various things this year. The odds of getting one aren't very great, but getting two is a special night for him."
Ka'Ra Stewart returned the opening kickoff 96 yards and the Panthers never looked back.
"He has been bragging the whole year about how I am going to get at least one in the first quarter or first play," Rodgers said of Stewart. "He finally got it tonight. Our team was great at blocking, so that makes it even better."
Ejay Johnson ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries in the first half, while quarterback Todd Porter completed 4 of 5 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
Neither Johnson nor Porter played in the second half as the Panthers went to their reserves.
The Panthers improved to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Southwestern Conference. They've outscored their three opponents 140-3 in the first half.
The Maroons dropped to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the SWC.
"We've got a lot of young kids playing," first-year West coach Cameron Pettus said. "It's a different stage for them, obviously, and I think that got to them a little bit.
"What we told them is we're going to find out who wants to compete and who wants to play. That's who we're going to move forward with. That's life. You get knocked down and you have to get back up and get going again."
It took the Panthers 13 seconds to get on the scoreboard as Stewart caught the opening kickoff at the O'Fallon 4, broke a tackle as he sprinted right up the middle of the field and then outran all his pursuers.
"We've got some explosive players, and Ka'Ra is one of them," Joggerst said. "To start off like we did, to take it to the house from the opening bell, obviously gave us a little momentum. And, we were able to ride that wave the rest of the first half."
The Panthers went up 9-0 when a high snap on a punt by the Maroons after a three-and-out on their opening possession got knocked out of the back of the end zone.
Johnson's 6-yard touchdown run with 8:06 left in the first quarter put the Panthers ahead 16-0.
A 37-yard pass from Kyle Leadlove to Keith Harris set up a 21-yard field goal by West freshman kicker Austin Seibert that the cut the Panthers' lead to 16-3.
The Panthers increased their lead to 23-3 on a 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Rodgers. Nick Barrett forced the fumble with a sack of Leadlove.
Porter threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Antuan McClenton, who broke a tackle around the West 15 and ran into the end zone to put the Panthers ahead 30-3 with 9:45 left in the second quarter.
Rodgers again was in the right place at the right time as he picked up a fumbled handoff and scored with 8:01 remaining in the second quarter.
Johnson's 32-yard touchdown padded the Panthers' advantage to 43-3 with 5:35 left in the second quarter.
The Panthers' first-half scoring spree was capped by a 39-yard pass from Porter to Marico Cowans on a play where the Maroons were flagged for having 12 men on the field.
