It didn't take Rogers long to figure out Maple Heights presented a problem Friday night that the Rams rarely dealt with during the regular season.
The speedy Mustangs arrived at Rogers ready to live up to their nickname.
Maple Heights, led by crafty quarterback Shaq Washington and elusive running back Devonte Ransom, ran wild on their way to a 36-26 victory in a first-round game in the Division II football playoffs.
Defensively, the Mustangs (9-2) forced Rogers quarterback E.J. Tucker into committing three turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble).
"They were the better team tonight," Tucker said.
Yet, Tucker's final game included scoring touchdowns on runs of one and two-yards, as well as throwing a touchdown pass.
"We just made too many mistakes tonight," Rogers coach Rick Rios said. "You can't do that against a good team."
The night actually started out positively for Rogers, which entered the playoff opener riding a six-game win streak.
The Rams (9-2) took the kickoff and drove 65 yards on 10 plays to take a 6-0 lead.
Tucker finished off the long-sustained possession by rolling right and firing into the middle of the end zone where DerJuan Gambrell out-jumped a Mustangs defender and came down with a catch for a 13-yard touchdown with 8:30 left in the quarter. Tucker was denied the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt.
But good fortune lasted only so long for the Rams.
Tucker coughed up the football on the third play of the Rams' next possession, which was recovered by a Mustangs defender at the Rams 40-yard line.
Ransom needed only two plays to even the score. He burst through the Rams defense for 37 yards on his first carry before he was tackled at the Rogers' three-yard line. The shifty halfback finished off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 6-6 with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. The Mustangs took an 8-6 lead one the two-point conversion.
Washington put the Mustangs in front 16-6 when he scored on a 39-yard scamper with 34.9 seconds left in the first. He also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Mustangs a 10-point lead.
The Mustangs' speed on offense caused fits for the Rams defense most of the night.
"Only time we've seen speed like that this season is in practice," Rios said. "Give them credit, they played well."
Washington said they looked forward to the matchup and felt confident entering the first round playoff game.
"In our minds, it was never a 3-6 matchup, it was an even matchup," Washington said.
Despite the early miscue, the Rams only trailed 16-6 at the half, thanks primarily to the defense coming through with two goal-line.
They stopped the Mustangs on a fourth-and-goal play at the one-yard line with just under six minutes left in the second quarter.
Rams defensive back Darius Southward also came through with an interception near the end zone on the final play of the half.
But Maple Heights opened the second half with Washington finishing off a drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give the Mustangs a 22-6 advantage. It looked like the Rams were completely done for the night when Ransom scored on a nine-yard touchdown run to make it 30-6.
However, with some of the Rams fans already exiting after the Mustangs' score late in the third quarter, Rams kick returner Darrell James halted some of the departures when he returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown to make it 30-14.
Tucker led Rogers on two scoring drives in the fourth quarter. The first was a three-play, 60-yard drive that concluded with him scoring from two yards out to make it 30-20 with 7:22 left.
However, Maple Heights needed only two plays to complete a 60-yard scoring drive to go ahead 36-20. Washington ran 25 yards on a keeper and Ransom finished it off with a 35-yard TD run.
Tucker capped the Rams' final drive with a one-yard touchdown run for the final score of the night.
Contact Donald Emmons at:
demmons@theblade.com
or 419-724-6302
First Published November 7, 2009, 3:19 p.m.
