The St. Paul’s Wolves and the Archbishop Rummel Raiders were locked up in a tight ball game Friday night battling in the Rusty Brauner Jamboree when senior return man Jermaine Sams took matters into his own hands returning a kick off 94 yards to the house to propel the Wolves to a thrilling 20-14 victory.

Rummel, which trailed early in the game 14-0, fought back to tie the game 14-14 on a Damian Williams’ 18-yard scoring toss to junior Cyril Grayson with 6:46 left in the contest after senior place kicker Marc Musso was true on the point after to knot things up.

The Wolves didn’t waste any time recapturing the lead with Sams outrunning the Raiders’ defense up the right sideline finding pay dirt. He put a move on the kicker near midfield and sped past other defenders into the end zone. The Wolves’ extra point attempt was blocked, but the Wolves held the six-point advantage with just 6:29 to play.

St. Paul’s senior cornerback John Gremillion (7) goes up high for an interception in Friday night’s jamboree game against the Archbishop Rummel Raiders as teammate Jay Washington (8) provides double coverage against a Rummel receiver. Gremillion picked off two passes with one being nullified by a pass interference call during the Wolves’ 20-14 victory in the Rusty Brauner Jamboree played at the FHS Dawg Pound. (Photo by Gwen Ladner)

Sams talked about his contribution on his scoring play.

“I saw my hole open up and I just went through it with my speed. One dude almost got me down by my heel, but I broke the tackle and was able to come through in the clutch,” Sams said.

Sams used every bit of his 4.48 speed to outrun the Raiders’ defenders.

“The momentum had changed when Rummel started getting fired up in the second half. I knew I had to get the touchdown on the kick return and that’s what I was able to do,” Sams added.

Wolves’ head coach Ken Sears praised Sams.

“He made a play. He’s that type of kid that comes up with big plays in the clutch. Sure enough, he came through for us,” Sears said.

Rummel took the opening kickoff and picked up one first down before Wolves’ senior cornerback John Gremillion stepped in front of a Luke Cartozzo pass and turned it up field for a 45-yard interception return before he was brought down on the Raiders’ one-yard line with 11:58 on the clock.

Gremillion had a superb evening picking off the pass and intercepted another pass, however it was nullified on a pass interference penalty. Gremillion, who possesses good quickness made aggressive breaks on balls and successfully defended a number of passes.

Gremillion shared his thoughts on his defensive effort in the secondary along with his teammates.

“I was just trying to do my part. The defense had a fantastic night. Everybody was on their game tonight,” Gremillion said. “I felt really quick tonight, breaking on the ball. My legs were underneath me.”

Gremillion said it was an important win to get his Wolves off on the right foot against a really good Rummel team.

“Losing to them last year was rough so getting a redemption game back was really good for us,” the senior cornerback said.

Coach Sears talked about Gremillion’s performance.

“John did a fantastic job. He had a great night,” Sears added.

On first-and-goal from the one following Gremillion’s key interception senior Mikhail Washington plunged over for the score with Trent Domingue adding the PAT.

Following the kick off, Rummel took over at its 32. On second down, the Raiders fumbled and the Wolves’ recovered. Rummel’s defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out including a third down sack.

Rummel gained one first down on its next possession, but then were forced to punt and got off a short kick, which was returned down to the Raiders’ 22. The Wolves lost two yards on first down and threw an incomplete pass on second down. Facing third-and-12, St. Paul’s senior QB Alec Duncan found Washington in the left flat, who latched onto the pass and made a couple defenders miss and danced his way into the end zone from 24 yards out with 6:34 left in the first half to give the Wolves a 13-0 margin with Domingue tacking on the point after.

Wolves’ coach Ken Sears said it was a real sloppy game for his Wolves.

“We put the ball on the ground too many times. It was good to come out with a victory in the jamboree, but there is so much we have to work on. We’ve got to get a lot better to compete in our district,” Sears said.

Rummel got on the board executing a 12-play, 80-yard drive. It appeared the Raiders had turned the ball over midway during the drive when Gremillion picked off a pass, but the interception was nullified with a pass interference call allowing Rummel to retain possession.

The Raiders made the Wolves pay five plays later as sophomore running back Terrance Jones cashed in from one yard out to put Rummel on the board with just 46 seconds left in the half. Musso’s extra point made it 14-7. Jones led all rushers with 72 yards on 15 carries.

St. Paul’s junior Kris Brumfield returned the ensuing kick off 59 yards and nearly broke it being caught from behind by Grayson and brought down at the Raiders’ 16-yard line. On first down, Wolves’ fullback Dylan Long, while heading to the goal line, was stripped of the ball, and it was recovered by Blake Alongi at the Raiders’ one. It started raining near the end of the half and a constant drizzle continued for most of the remainder of the night.

St. Paul’s received the second half kick off and picked up two first downs before stalling.

Rummel fumbled on its next possession with St. Paul’s Mason Cole recovering at the Raiders’ 41. The Wolves returned the favor three plays later with Branagh Cohen falling on the ball, which resulted in the Williams’ TD toss to Grayson.

Rummel head coach Jay Roth, who guided the Raiders to a 14-1 mark last season, losing to West Monroe in the championship game said his club played a sloppy game.

“I was embarrassed because we looked rag-tag. We couldn’t get people on and off the field and we fumbled three times and that’s something I’m not used to seeing,” Roth said.

“We’re 0 and 0. We just need to come back next week and we’ll get better. Last year, we beat them with two punt returns and this time they beat us with a kick off return. It’s good to play a good, quality team in the jamboree. I’m sure Kenny (Sears) felt the same way I did, it was a little sloppy,” Roth added.

St. Paul’s opens the season Friday hosting the Karr Cougars.