Seahawks roll behind Rogers’ big night
Similar to the way Hendon Hooker is leading the Tennessee Volunteers up the road in Knoxville, Brett Rogers is picking apart defenses in his senior football season at Silverdale Baptist Academy.
Rogers totaled 324 yards of offense in the first half of Thursday’s 35-0 win at Notre Dame in a Division II-AA East Region showdown.
The two-sport star had four touchdowns and recorded a sack in the Seahawks’ stout defensive showing that also featured Caden Bancroft, Brody Lamb and Chase Manning.
Rogers opened the game with a 57-yard run in which he kept going after rolling over the top of a defender without his knee touching the ground. He also led a pair of 14-play scoring drives covering 85 and 93 yards, threw a 66-yard touchdown strike to Cam Bowen and caught a 13-yard screen pass from Turner Junkins for a touchdown.
“Brett has exceptional maturity. He handles being a leader so well and doesn’t ever let anything go to his head even while he’s putting up crazy numbers,” Silverdale Baptist coach Mike
Connor said. “We have turned him loose, and he’s doing a remarkable job along with the guys around him.”
Rogers needed just 25 seconds and three plays late in the first half to drive the Seahawks (5-2, 2-1) 85 yards for a score. He finished the game with 199 passing yards and 120 rushing to go with his 13-yard touchdown catch.
“Our team really has been rolling since the win over Boyd Buchanan,” said Rogers, who has more than 2,000 total yards this season. “We are playing for each other instead of against an opponent. Our offense is really tough to stop, and our defense
played lights out tonight.”
Silverdale’s defense stood tall after Notre Dame (1-5, 0-4) opened the game with two good possessions that came up short. Kenny Hammond had the Fighting Irish’s longest play of the game with a remarkable 40-yard catch over three defenders from Cash Bandy deep down the left sideline.
Junkins accounted for two touchdowns, while Botts had a 29-yard touchdown catch on a long third-down conversion for the Seahawks.