Ladue vs Westminster (Game Review)

GAME STORY   On a humid Saturday in St. Louis that didn't feature many highly compelling games on paper, Ladue vs Westminster at Westminster's beautiful campus in the West County suburb of Town and County was enticing enough. The storyline was if new Ladue head coach David Bryant could start out his tenure for his alma mater on the winning end and if the young Rams could show some promise after losing 17 starters to graduation from their 9-2 season a year ago.   The result was an emphatic yes on both counts.   The Rams thumped the Wildcats 64-7, which (according to Ladue football's Twitter account) is a new school record for the most amount of points they've ever scored in a Week 1 encounter. It was Ladue's fourth straight win over Westminster and have outscored them by a combined 182-14. Bryant, a Class of 2005 Ladue graduate is just the 5th head coach in the school's 70-year history. This is his 11th year on staff where he spent seven years as the defensive coordinator eventually getting promoted to the top job.   Ladue got out to a fast start with a long kickoff return by running back/linebacker, [player_tooltip player_id='188596' first='Boston' last='Lee'] to the Westminster 20-yard line, and three plays later, junior Isaiah Julian rushed for a 6-yard touchdown to put the Rams up 7-0. A fourth-down stop in Wildcat territory set up junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='126228' first='Beau' last='Dolan'] to throw his first of three touchdown passes of the game to put the Rams up 13-0. A field goal by Aiden Goldstein made it 16-0 and a blocked punt on the next Westminster drive led to another series of short field positions, which resulted in a rushing touchdown by senior wide receiver Adonis Whitely that upped the lead to 22-0. At that point, Ladue had held Westminster to one first down through three drives, but the Wildcats went to the air and found some success. Junior quarterback Shepard Nye connected on three straight first-down passes that ultimately led to a 2-yard touchdown pass to Caden Collison that cut the lead to 22-7.   After that, it was all Rams.   They responded with an impressive 71-yard, 15-play drive capped by a touch pass from Dolan to Whitley for a 2-yard touchdown run. Junior free safety Diori Jones intercepted Nye on the following Westminster drive and [player_tooltip player_id='126228' first='Beau' last='Dolan'] directed a successful drive that ended with him scoring on a 1-yard designed to run with five seconds left in the first half where Ladue led 36-7. The Rams would outscore the Wildcats 28-0 in the second half.   STARS OF THE GAME   [player_tooltip player_id='126228' first='Beau' last='Dolan'] (Ladue)   Now the full-time starter after splitting time with Jaylen Swinney for more than half of last season, Dolan started his third season under center for the Rams in style. The 6-foot-2 junior lefty completed 15-of-22 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns against the Wildcats while additionally running for 25 yards on the ground with a 1-yard score. The Ram's offense scored every time Dolan was on the field before he exited the game midway through the third quarter with a 43-7 lead. Dolan had numerous great throws including a 26-yard completion to Luke Clatto through double-coverage that was a yard short of a touchdown. He later threw a perfect vertical pass to Clatto for a 40-yard touchdown and completed a 31-yard pass to [player_tooltip player_id='218483' first='Adonis' last='Whitley'], which was again stopped a yard short of the end zone.   [player_tooltip player_id='103381' first='Max' last='Eastman'] (Ladue)   A four-year starter for Ladue going both ways in the trenches, Eastman had another solid performance and was leading by example for the young Rams. A 6-foot-0, 250-pound center and defensive tackle, Eastman is the Ram's most important player since he sets the tone on both sides of the line. On offense, with a handful of starts at center under his belt, Eastman had no bad snaps and created hole after hole for running backs and time for Dolan to pass. Eastman was technically a quiet impact on the stat sheet with three tackles, but two of them were in the backfield, including a sack. The other was a big fourth-down tackle at the line of scrimmage that forced a turnover on downs deep in Westminster territory. Eastman recently announced his commitment to Division III team Pomona-Pitzer, a joint athletics program for Pomona College and Pitzer College.   [player_tooltip player_id='218483' first='Adonis' last='Whitley'] (Ladue)   A 5-foot-8 senior slot receiver, Whitley was a noticeable presence in the Westminster secondary with his great speed and juking abilities. He tallied 57 receiving yards with career-highs of five receptions and two scores: one on a jet-sweep handoff and the other on a touch-pass. Whitley is a very fast, underrated slot receiver with 4.5 40-yard dash speed, impressive route running, great hands, and even better footwork. He also broke a few tackles in the open field. Whitley finished with 19 catches, 279 yards, and a team-high five receiving touchdowns in 2021. He is going to be a handful for every opponent Ladue goes up against this season.   [player_tooltip player_id='215752' first='Joseph' last='Anderson'] (Westminster)   By far the most impressive player for the Wildcats on a day when there wasn't much to be positive about from Westminster's point of view. Anderson, a 6-foot-5 junior tight end/outside linebacker was seemingly everywhere on the field doing the little things and occasionally noticeable greatness. On the opening kickoff, he was just out of reach of tackling the Ladue returner at the 14-yard line and seemingly out of the play behind everybody. However, Anderson ended up outrunning his teammates and tackled the kick returner down at the Wildcat's 20-yard line. On defense, Anderson had a game-high 11 tackles with two sacks, numerous hurries, and broke up a screen pass.   Isaiah Julian (Ladue)   A 5-foot-9, 190-pound junior, Julian is the newest Rams running back, which is a position they have produced several All-State caliber talents in the last decade. Julian showed flashes against Westminster. He scored twice on a 6-yard run and an impressive 68-yard scamper with some thanks to a big hole created by the offensive line. Julian showed good vision after taking a handoff to the left and cutting back toward the right where the open lane was, then made two defensive backs miss on a juke move to break free down the sideline outrunning one more Wildcat. Julian finished with a career-high 92 rushing yards on six carries, two touchdowns, and averaged 14 yards per run. Also a linebacker, Julian tallied five tackles and broke up a pass.   PROSPECTS TO KEEP AN EYE ON   Noah Mitchell (Ladue)   One of the few up-and-coming Rams in the front seven with a decent amount of reps from a year ago, Mitchell was active at middle linebacker. A 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior linebacker, he recorded seven tackles, one of which was for a loss, and displayed a good reading of the game by seemingly always being in the right place. Mitchell will be a good stable on a young defense. On offense, he is the starting tight end who blocked well.   Shaun Roberts (Ladue)   Another new starting linebacker, Roberts stood out with his productivity and quickness to the ball. A 5-foot-7, 150-pound outside linebacker, he had nine tackles including two of them for losses and an additional sack. Roberts was quick to flag down short passes in the flats and excellently pursued the ball carriers tackling them in the open field as an experienced veteran would. He's also the third running back and found the end zone for the last score of the game on a 4-yard run.   Richard McIntosh (Ladue)   A first-year starting safety after converting from linebacker, McIntosh was more than up for the challenge in his first career start. A 5-foot-10, 175-pound junior, McIntosh led the Rams in tackles with ten and even got an interception. McIntosh upped his speed enough from a year ago, but what got him the starting roll is his awareness, instincts, and tackling ability. He was excellent at keeping everything in front of him and made good reads.   Colby Alpert (Westminster)   A 6-foot-0 junior tight end, Alpert was the most productive receiver for the Wildcats. He caught three passes for 44 yards and also displayed a very impressive one-handed catch. With his left hand, Alpert caught a Shepard Nye pass in the middle of the field while his momentum was taking his body away from the ball.   Dylan Hawthorne (Ladue)   Officially not a starter returning starter at wide receiver, Hawthorne does bring some experience back to an offense that graduated eight starters as a senior captain. He's also a returning cornerback, who did well once again, but Hawthorne stood out on offense. He caught five passes for 51 yards and hauled in an 11-yard lob pass for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone. Undoubtedly, the Rams want to take advantage of Hawthorne's 6-foot-3 size along with 6-foot-6 Jaylen Swinney and 6-foot-2 [player_tooltip player_id='298504' first='Chase' last='Allen'], both seniors.   Mason Jones (Ladue)   A sophomore offensive guard standing at 6-foot-2, 315-pounds, Jones caught my attention with his ability to get off the ball relatively well for a player his size and hold his blocks long enough. Although he registered one tackle on defense, Jones was in there to plug up gaps forcing double teams. With plenty of time on his side and most likely the vast amount of experience he will get this season, Jones has the potential to be a very good two-way lineman for the Rams in the coming years.   Bryan Bailey (Ladue)   Sticking with young linemen, Bailey is a 5-foot-9, 285-pound freshman defensive tackle. He recorded a sack in the second half against Westminster's starting offense and also caused a Wildcats running back to run to the outside on a play in the first quarter, which led to a loss of yards. Bailey times snaps very well and often was getting in the backfield. Ladue has another potentially quality underclassmen linemen on their hands.

GAME STORY