Roosevelt football takes down Ida B. Wells behind inspired defensive effort

ST. JOHNS – Coming into Friday, Ida B. Wells High School football – the two-time defending PIL champions – hadn’t lost a league game since Oct. 7, 2022, a run of 16 consecutive wins.

But all good things must come to an end, and Roosevelt made sure the Guardians’ ride came to a close.

The Roughriders, powered by a strong defensive effort, took down the Guardians 14-12 for their first win of the year and a massive leg up in the PIL race.

“It’s incredible, it really means something to us, we’ve been looking at this since last year,” Roosevelt senior Geovoney Burks said. “We’ve been circling the calendar. We’ve always been thinking about this every time we need some motivation. This means something to us, it’s important.”

At first, it looked as if Wells was going to be up to its normal bag of tricks running an efficient wing-T offense under second-year head coach Robby Scharf.

On the opening drive of the game, the Guardians threw in a little surprise with QB Jude Nolan passing deep to a wide-open Cam Shea who ran the final 30 yards for a 71-yard scoring play. The 2-point try was stopped short to make it 6-0 Wells.

Roosevelt went three-and-out on its first drive, then Wells went right back to work from midfield and scored again on an 11-yard run from Kurt Jordan. But again, the 2-point conversion was snuffed out, making it 12-0 Wells.

On the first play on the ensuing drive, Roosevelt lost a fumble to continue the dreadful start.

Wells worked its way down to the Riders 3-yard line, but were stuffed and kept out of the end zone. A turnover on downs gave the ball back to Roosevelt with nearly the entire field to go.

But that stop changed the feeling on the Roosevelt sideline, and sophomore QB Ezra Arp stepped up to the moment and slung a ball to Burks at midfield that was caught. Burks ran it down to the Wells 23 for a 71-yard, game-changing completion.

“There’s some things he’s gotta clean up and be better at, but at the same time, (Arp) made the clutch plays when we needed them,” Roosevelt head coach Ryan McCants said. “He’s just a gunslinger and a kid who’s been working his tail off and coming into his own as a leader.”

The drive wasn’t over though, and Roosevelt was looking at fourth-and-4 from the Wells 7-yard line. Arp turned to his right and hit Naheem Campbell on a dig route and Campbell reached the ball over the pylon for the touchdown. Roosevelt made the PAT to make it 12-7 going into halftime.

Roosevelt started the second half with the ball and moved it into Wells’ territory, but a third lost fumble on the night ended the drive.

However, the Riders defense continued to make plays by getting a turnover on downs in response, the fourth consecutive turnover on downs for the Guardians since the second TD.

And this time, the Roosevelt offense made sure to cash in.

Arp threw a perfect ball down the near sideline that was hauled in by sophomore Jamarea Sanders in the front corner of the end zone with only one foot staying in bounds, a 32-yard TD score.

The PAT was hit and Roosevelt went up 14-12 right before the end of the third quarter.

From there, it was another Wells turnover on downs, but Kannon Walter inspired some hope with an interception for the Guardians made at the goal line.

However, the offense had completely stalled for Wells, who decided on a rare punt facing fourth-and-8 on its own side of the field.

Wells got the ball back one final time with 7:37 left in the game, but once again, the Roosevelt defense held strong and forced the final TO on downs at midfield. From there, the Riders ran out the clock to pick up the win.

“We just played physical all game. We got into a bad spot down 12 to a team that runs the ball all game,” Roosevelt senior linebacker/running back Miles Green said. “But we fought back, we got that goal-line stand, that was huge. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we played on defense.”

“It starts with our coaches, we’ve talked about the Wells game, we’ve talked about wing-T and all that stuff they run, and we really took a deep dive to try and get it dialed,” McCants said. “Without them, we’re not able to execute like we are and hold them to 12 points. We stopped two of their 2-point conversions so we could get out of here with the win.”

Arp finished 8-for-17 passing for 183 yards with two TD passes. Burks made the one catch for 75 meanwhile Sanders had two catches for 54 yards and a score. Roosevelt finished with 231 total yards.

On the Wells side, Jordan had 16 carries for 80 yards and a TD. Lucius Coon chipped in 14 carries for 75 yards as the Guardians finished with 196 rushing yards and 267 total.

“Defense, it was incredible. First drive, it’s Wells, they run the wing-T and you gotta pick up on it,” Burks said. “As soon as we caught onto it, it was locked up. We got some of the best linebackers in the state, I think one of the best defenses overall when we’re on the same page.”

Roosevelt, now 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the PIL, will look to be on the same page next week, this time on the road. The Riders head to take on 4-0 Lincoln, who moved to 2-0 in the PIL with a win over Franklin on Friday.

The two favorites for the PIL crown at the moment kickoff at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 from the Cardinals’ home field.