Walker leads Brother Rice past Wolfpack

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:08PM

Martez Walker started and finished spectacularly.

In between, he proved pretty much unstoppable.

The Brother Rice junior running back scored five touchdowns and gashed St. Ignatius for 271 yards on 24 carries to power the Crusaders' 34-7 second-round Catholic League playoff game Friday night.

On his team's third play from scrimmage, Walker burst around the right end for a 44-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead for the Crusaders (6-5). Walker repeatedly burned the Wolfpack defense by breaking the seam and then cutting back against the grain.

Brother Rice is awaiting the results of the second round state playoff performance of St. Rita, Mount Carmel and Loyola to determine its next opponent.

"They were over pursuing a lot of on defense, and that opened up a lot of holes for me," Walker said.

His seven-yard touchdown, set up by a fumble recovery by junior defensive end Mario Diaz at the Wolfpack 32-yard-line, extended the Crusaders' lead to 13-0 at the break. Walker gained 108 yards in the first half.

He was just getting started. On the opening play from scrimmage of the third quarter, Walker broke free for a 51-yard dash. He followed that with a 14-yard burst up the gut of the St. Ignatius defense and finished off the five-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard gallop around the right end for the 19-0 lead.

After the Brother Rice defense forced a three-and-out, Walker opened the ensuing possession with a 15-yard burst that set up his fourth touchdown, a 24-yard scoring run. "I have to give it up to my line and the other backs, because without them I wouldn't have gotten the 271 or the scores," Walker said.

"I had a lot of room to run and the coaches really talked with me about running downhill and that's what I really focused on," Walker said.

St. Ignatius (5-6) averted the shutout on the versatile play of senior quarterback Alex Miceli and wideout Luke Rosner. Miceli (146 yards passing, 72 rushing) orchestrated a 14-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with his two-yard scoring run. The key plays were a 12-yard pass to Rosner and an 11-yard strike to Matt McCareins. Rosner also ran four times for 22 yards out of the Wildcat formation. Rosner finished with six catches for 107 yards.

The night, as usual, belonged to Walker. After Brother Rice recovered an attempted on-side kick, Walker ended the scoring with a 30-yard burst.

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