Rouse revives in the second half, cruises past visiting Anderson behind Justin Cannon
LEANDER — Rouse's slogan is “Be Your Brother’s Keeper,” and that mantra rang true on Friday night.
After a sluggish first half, Rouse scored on all four possessions after the break and held Anderson’s offense in check for a 42-21 win on Friday at Bible Stadium.
“We just had to refocus, and I told them you have choices,” Rouse head coach Josh Mann said. “There’s people in worse situations than us tonight that are fighting cancer, that are getting chemo, that are fighting for their lives and we’re here feeling sorry for ourselves at a football game. Let’s have some fun, life is hard, this is what life teaches you and that’s why this game is so special.”
Rouse running back Justin Cannon rushed for 162 yards on 27 carries, quarterback Morgan London completed 9 of 20 passes for 112 and two touchdowns and the Raiders defense held Anderson to just 62 yards and five first downs in the second half.
“There was just no adjustments,” Cannon said about the mood at halftime. “We just got to fix us. Coach Mann came in there, had a great talk with us and after that, everybody just clicked.”
Anderson signal-caller Brady Gephart completed 19 of 31 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns and wide receiver Ed Small hauled in nine catches for 120 yards and two scores. But Rouse (1-1) dictated the tempo from the start of the third quarter after starting the half with possession marching 60 yards on eight plays to cut the Anderson deficit to 21-20.
Cannon surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark with an 11-yard run that advance the ball to the Anderson 38-yard line. He capped that drive by catching a 14-yard touchdown pass from Morgan.
“I’ve got to thank my O-line,” Cannon said. “Everything starts up front and everything just runs behind him. QB 1 (Morgan) right here, he did amazing.”
Raiders defensive back Judson Mann came up with the biggest defensive play of the second half, an interception on the ensuing Anderson drive that gave Rouse possession on the Raider 41.
“I know that kid,” the head coach joked after the game. “He was a starting receiver last year and we nodded a defensive player and he jumped over. I’m so happy for him.”
Senior Jacob Caruthers would cap that 12-play scoring drive with a two-yard rushing touchdown. The Raiders would go up 28-21 after Morgan ran in the two-point conversion.
“I think it’s the simple mistakes that we had to fix up,” Morgan said. “When we went in at half, none of us thought we were going to lose that game. We all just joined together as a team and fixed those little mistakes.”
Rouse’s defense did not allow a first down in the fourth quarter.
“The defense coming out and just stamping them the way that they did, it just makes our job easier,” Cannon said.
Noah Fabila extended the Rouse lead to 35-21 early in the fourth quarter with a 31-yard touchdown reception. Fabila caught the ball at the Anderson 18 and slid behind great downfield blocking from a pair of Rouse wideouts to run into the end zone untouched.
Leland Smit capped the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 61 seconds left in the game.
“The holes are so big and I’m so proud of my big men,” Morgan said about the Rouse offensive line.
Small came up with the biggest offensive play by either team in the first half and helped the Trojans take the lead into the locker room at halftime.
With the ball on their own 17, Gephart lofted a pass to Small downfield who beat double coverage to haul in the ball at the Rouse 40. The junior then shifted toward the Anderson sideline then cut back inside and out again, made five Raider defenders miss before going out of bounds at the Rouse 18.
Small would haul in a five-yard touchdown pass from Gephart six plays later. He was lined up with three wide receivers on the far sideline and caught the pass just inside the goal line to put Anderson up 21-14 with five seconds left in the first half.
The Trojans fell behind by a touchdown twice in the first half, but answered Rouse scores with touchdowns on their own.
Gephart got the Trojans on the board by dropping a dime to wide receiver Zayden Sharp for a 54-yard score. Sharp was line up one-on-one down the Anderson sideline and beat the coverage to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the opening quarter.
A free play helped Anderson get in the end zone for the second time. Facing a 4th and 5 from the Rouse 17, Gephart was able to draw a Raider defender offside then hit Small for a 17-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 14 with 5 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first half.
Anderson’s Simon Burns also had an interception in the first half.
Cannon helped the home team break through on Rouse’s first possession of the night. The senior took a handoff right, broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and raced 19 yards to the pylon for a touchdown that made it 7-0 Rouse less than five minutes into the game.
The Raiders took advantage of a short field after taking over at the Trojan 49 to begin the second quarter. Rouse marched into the end zone on eight plays to take a 14-7 lead just 2 minutes, 15 seconds into the second quarter.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Rouse Raiders dominate in second half to beat the Anderson Trojans
