Rockhurst football dominates at Bishop Miege with 49-28 victory in rivalry game

Blink and you might miss it.

At least that’s how it felt between Bishop Miege (0-2) and Rockhurst (3-2) on Friday night as the Hawklets ran out 49-28 winners at Miege’s Dixon Doll Stadium.

Rockhurst scored on four of its first six drives, two of those scores being touchdowns on the first play of the respective drive.

A further three Rockhurst touchdowns happened throughout the night within the first two plays of the drive.

“Explosive isn’t really Rockhurst football. We’re used to just ground and pounding, but maybe Miege didn’t expect us to come out like,” Rockhurst quarterback Bobby Hummel said. “But Coach (Kelly) Donohoe and Coach (Tom) Kruse drew up some great plays, and we beat them. It was mind games.”

Featuring 810 Varsity’s seventh- and eighth-ranked teams in the city, and a rivalry game to boot, the game promised to be an exciting affair.

But after a pair of scoreless drives to start the game, Rockhurst blew the game wide open with three straight touchdowns.

Pinning the Stags deep in their own half, Rockhurst returned the third punt of the game to Miege’s 23-yard line.

A 14-yard run from senior running back Martin Selzer into the red zone was then followed by a 9-yard touchdown run by Selzer to complete the two-play drive in less than a minute.

The Stags could only reply by throwing an interception in their own half after quarterback Timothy Dorsey’s pass was tipped straight into the hands of Rockhurst defensive tackle AJ Frazier.

But before the Stags could even get their minds past the interception, Hawklet quarterback Hummel found receiver Isaac Koch down the hash marks for a 47-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive.

Donohoe said before the game that he wanted Koch to get more involved in the game, and that’s certainly what the junior did. Koch finished with 119 yards off six catches, resulting in two touchdowns.

“Isaac was playing tonight because a receiver got injured, but Isaac is a good player, he just needed some opportunities,” Hummel said. “He runs great routes, so I just had to set it up for him to get the ball.”

The touchdown pass was one of three for Hummel on the night. The senior, who was starting in place of injured starter Luke Bailey Jr., finished the game with 198 total yards but was dragged back by -32 yards on the ground.

A second Selzer touchdown at the start of the second quarter was followed by Miege’s first touchdown of the night.

But with hopes of a comeback on the minds of the Stags, Hummel quickly dashed those hopes.

Hummel’s first-ever varsity start for the Hawklets came in a 34-7 loss to Bishop Miege in 2019. But with revenge on the mind, he found tight end Johnny Pescuzzi on a comeback route to complete a 76-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive.

“It was perfect,” Hummel said. “Last year was a big bummer, first game starting, but we just proved to them that we can beat, it’s just the rivalry and pride of that.”

A pair of two-play drives resulting in Rockhurst touchdowns — 76- and 48-yard rushing touchdowns — to open the second half blew the game wide open at 42-7.

A late charge by Miege, including three-straight three-and-outs for Rockhurst, offered a little hope for Miege, but it was too little too late.

“I think (the rivalry) was played in the ’80s or something,” Hummel said. “And then it came back and we barely beat them that first year and they killed us last year, but it felt good to get one back on them.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 10:25 PM.