San Roman, Rounds help Northwest pound Kapaun
Emilio San Roman was toting the ball around the turf at Northwest High so much, it’d be easy to think he was on offense.
No, the senior isn’t a ballcarrier, and doesn’t even return kicks, but he did get a cheer from the crowd when he found the ball in his hands three times on turnovers as Northwest topped Kapaun Mount Carmel 56-35 on Friday night.
“The second half, we were just able to get to the ball a lot quicker,” San Roman said about his defense, which held tight throughout a tense second half that saw the Grizzly offense score 35 points. “In the first half, we weren’t doing that, but we came back out and had nine guys flying to the ball every single play.”
San Roman’s first turnover of the night was his splashiest, as he leapt to undercut a Kapaun pass, coming down and taking off to go 20 yards untouched and give the Grizzlies a 14-7 lead on the second play of the second quarter.
His next three may have been more important, though.
He jumped on a fumble on the first play of the second half to kick start the first of two straight touchdown drives in the first three minutes for Northwest, allowing the hosts to take the first multi-possession lead of the night.
With Kapaun trying to drive while still trailing by two scores midway through the fourth quarter, San Roman snagged his second pick, and his third sealed the victory with 22 seconds left on the clock.
While San Roman was causing fits for the Crusader offense, fellow senior Jahlyl Rounds was doing the same on the other side of the ball.
The Northwest running back, who finished the night with a solid 167 yards but a whopping six touchdowns, started slashing through wide holes in the second half. His scoring runs of 21, 41 and 30 yards all came in the fourth quarter, seemingly each right after Kapaun was just thwarted on offense.
“We just started playing that fast, physical Grizzly football that we know how to play,” Rounds said. “They started playing back a little bit because of how good we were throwing the ball. Our O line blocked their butts off, and we started gashing them.”
What appeared destined to be a defensive struggle early quickly opened up into a shootout late in the first quarter. With Northwest leading 7-0 after the lone drive to gain momentum early, Kapaun got a stop and a short punt to set up a short field, and cashed in to tie it up.
San Roman’s interception return gave Northwest back the lead, but the teams then combined for three clock-chewing drives that all ended in touchdowns to make it a 21-21 game at the half.
Kapaun | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | — | 35 |
Northwest | 7 | 14 | 13 | 22 | — | 56 |
NW — Jahl. Rounds 1 run (Benoit kick)
K — N. Channel 1 run (Schrock kick)
NW — San Roman 20 interception return (Benoit kick)
K — Degenhardt 13 run (Schrock kick)
NW — Mullins 7 pass from Anderson (Benoit kick)
K — N. Channel 2 run (Schrock kick)
NW —Jahl. Rounds 1 run (Benoit kick)
NW — Jahl. Rounds 5 run (kick failed)
K — N. Channel 15 pass from Degenhardt (Schrock kick)
NW — Jahl. Rounds 21 run (Jahl. Rounds rush)
NW — Jahl. Rounds 41 run (Benoit kick)
K — Connor Shank 24 pass from Degenhardt (Schrock kick)
NW — Jahl. Rounds 30 run (Benoit kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Kapaun, Heiland 26-116, N. Channel 17-83, Degenhardt 14-61. Northwest, Jahl. Rounds 21-167, Anderson 10-31, Garner 4-13, Team 2-(-18).
Passing — Kapaun, Degenhardt 11-23-117-3. Northwest, Anderson 13-21-153-1.
Receiving — Kapaun, N. Channel 5-48, Shank 3-39, Schoelwer 2-28, Heiland 1-2. Northwest, Mullins 5-63, Smith 4-67, Jahl. Rounds 3-22, Reynolds 1-1.
This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 10:14 PM with the headline "San Roman, Rounds help Northwest pound Kapaun."