Football: Robert Morris gains wild win over St. Francis

JOLIET – The University of St. Francis football coaching staff decided against trying a potential game-tying field goal that would have been from about 40 yards.

The Robert Morris defense stepped up and made the stop on fourth down.

Still, the Saints – who were trailing, 31-28, with 7½ minutes remaining – had plenty of time to come back and win their home opener and homecoming game Saturday at Memorial Stadium against their Mid-States Football Association Mideast League foe. One stop, and they would be in business.

Instead, the Eagles called on 5-foot-6, 160-pound senior tailback Korey Rogers time and time again. He carried 12 times on a 13-play drive that ended with his 5-yard touchdown run with 1:41 left that made it 38-28.

St. Francis (1-3, 0-2) refused to quit, scoring with 0:29 remaining on Don Butkus’ 15-yard pass to Lexus Jackson to trim the deficit to 38-35. However, Robert Morris (2-2, 1-0) recovered the onside kick, and that was it.

Rogers, a Joliet West graduate, carried 43 times Saturday, 26 in the second half, for 222 yards and two touchdowns.

“How many times? Forty-three? That’s crazy,” said Rogers, who claims he was not tired when it ended. “I’m feeling fine because of all the offseason work I put in. I’m a little guy, but I just run hard, and our offensive line is what really did it for me.”

“You have to give Robert Morris credit,” USF coach Joe Curry said. “They pounded it and did a great job with clock management. We stalled there on our drive in the fourth quarter, when we felt we were just out of field-goal range.

“Then they got the ball back. Korey [Rogers] sees a hole and gets through it, and they have a great offensive line. There was no secret about what they were doing.”

Rogers may be a shoo-in for conference offensive player of the week. Then again, some might say the same about Saints sophomore wide receiver Brandon Ruffin. All he did was catch eight passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns on plays of 55, 41, 65 and 6 yards – with the 6-yarder of the highlight-reel variety.

Ruffin’s first score came on a wide receiver screen where he juked a defender and raced 55 yards up the sideline. He caught Butkus’ long throws of 39 and 41 yards on consecutive plays late in the first half to produce a 14-all tie at the break.

“Our game plan was to hit some screens early and maybe break a couple long ones,” Ruffin said. “Then later, we hit some long passes.”

For that matter, Butkus may deserve player of the week consideration after completing 22 of 36 passes for a career-high 367 yards and five scores.

“We finally started throwing the ball more,” Ruffin said, smiling. “I was getting in Coach’s ear about throwing it more.”

Jackson was involved, as well. He caught six passes for 91 yards in the fourth quarter alone and closed with nine receptions for 117 yards and the one touchdown.

“They were giving us the passing game,” said Curry, whose team totaled 464 offensive yards and 19 first downs to Robert Morris’ 475 yards and 25 first downs. “I like the matchups we had on the outside with Ruffin and Lexus. That’s something our offense can do – adapt to what the defense gives us.

“The outcome is disappointing, but I love our team and the way these guys fight. It’s going to turn for us.”