Couldn't find much game footage of Drushaun on KZfaq so wanted to put this game up. For those who don't know, Drushaun Humphrey passed away at the young age of 18 on April 30th, 2001. He had been offered a full athletic scholarship from Ohio State University after he attended a football camp between his sophomore and junior years and running a 4.4 40 at 6-3 230 pounds. He was actually Jim Tressel’s first ever recruit at Ohio State. He had an outstanding Junior year leading Rogers to a City League title. I went to junior high with him and he was a nice kid. Such a tragedy. He would have been one of the greats. RIP Dru.
9/29/2000: From The Toledo Blade: Rams gain first victory over Knights since ’62. Wham, bam, how ‘bout those Rams! With an all-out offensive and defensive assault, Rogers took out 38 years of frustration last night with a convincing 36-7 City League football victory over St. Francis de Sales at Rogers.
Over four decades of competition between the two schools, the Knights held a 25-1 recording coming in, with the Rams last winning in 1962.
But none of that mattered last night after 16th ranked Rogers (5-1, 2-0 CL) battered seventh-ranked St. Francis 523-177 in total offense, with 440 of those Rogers yards coming on the ground on 63 rushes.
“As long as I’ve been around, this has to be the biggest win in Rogers history,” said first-year coach Rick Rios, who quarterbacked the Rams (1985-86) and served as an assistant for 10 years.
After Loney Awls bulled in for Rogers’s final touchdown with 1:25 left in the game, Rios knelt on the sideline and prayed.
“God is good,” Rios said. “He’s blessed us with a heck of a lot of talent and our kids really pulled together. I’m very thankful.”
Led by the bruising and shifty running of 6-3, 232-pound junior tailback Drushaun Humphrey, three Ram backs eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
Humphrey - who also broke open the game with a 14-yard interception return for a touchdown to give Rogers an 18-7 lead with 5:52 left in the 3rd quarter - ran 18 times for 165 yards and added a touchdown on a 28-yard run with 10:23 left in the game.
Martuan Sample carried 17 times for 127 yards and got Rogers started with a 21-yard TD scamper around left end 3:21 into the game. Steve Lewis contributed 107 rushing yards on 13 attempts, including a 49-yard run and a two yard touchdown plunge with 4:36 to go.
“This is a huge win,” Humphrey said. “I love it. This is for our coaches, the whole school and everyone that’s ever played for Rogers and lost to St. Francis. We respected St. Francis 100 per cent from their coaches all the way down to their 44th player. We came out in the second half and knew we had to open it up. We stepped it up a notch, clamped it down and got the victory.”
On the flip side, St. Francis (4-2, 1-1 CL) saw little go right after its 11-play, 51-yard drive to a go-ahead TD with 9:05 left in the second quarter. That march, which included eight B.J. Gall rushes totaling 36 yards, closed on Gall’s two-yard TD plunge. John Murnen’s point-after kick gave the Knights their only lead.
As for Gall, who entered as the league’s top rusher (113, carries, 687 yards), the Ram defense allowed him little else. Gall ended with 79 yards on 17 attempts as St. Francis was held to 108 rushing yards on 31 tries.
Senior fullback Curt McQueary fumbled at the goal line and Roger’s All-Ohio linebacker, Deontre Earl, recovered with 6:21 left in the first quarter. “We wanted to take away the off-tackle run to B.J. Gall and make their quarterback (Brett Auer) beat us,” Earl said. “When we were able to force them to do some things they didn’t want to do, we knew had them right where we anted them. We realize the importance of this win, but it’s just one more step on our way to the state playoffs.”
Highlights:
1:52 Drushaun player profile - OSU full ride as a Sophomore!
2:22 Deontre Earl player profile - All State and future Akron Zip
3:12 - Coach Rios pre-game interview
4:27 - Coach Cromwell pre-game interview
18:15 - Steve Lewis interception
19:03 - Humphrey nice spin move
20:29 - Jeff Schwarzkopf nice catch
23:15 - Martuan Sample 21-yard TD run
26:51 - Earl TFL
30:14 - Fumble recovery - #77 caused, Earl recovered
35:51 - Humphrey big run
51:16 - Humphrey impossible to bring down
59:44 - Reece TD
1:04:08 - Wade Morris fumble recovery
1:24:37 - Earl big hit
1:35:57 - Humphrey interception return for TD
1:55:37 - Humphrey 28-yard TD run
2:05:10 - Earl another big hit
2:10:25 - Lewis big run
2:12:53 - Sample 2-yard TD run
2:15:31 - Lewis 2nd interception
2:20:08 - Loney Awls 1-yard TD run
2:28:34 - Coach Rios post-game interview