Broussard Steps Up for Royal

The Royal High football team needed a break Friday night against Agoura.

The Highlanders trailed by three points midway through the fourth quarter and their offense was sputtering. Losing its starting tailback was the last thing Royal expected to help its cause.

But two plays after leading rusher Jerome Lee was carried off the field, junior Christian Broussard ran 67 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and led Royal to a 20-10 Marmonte League victory at Moorpark College.

After Agoura turned the ball over on downs, Broussard broke three tackles en route to a 36-yard scoring run to seal the victory for Royal (6-2, 4-1 in league play).

Broussard scored on his only two carries.

“They were hitting Jerome all night and that was my only thought when I went in there,” Broussard said. “I didn’t want to get hit.”

Lee was most of the Royal offense for the first three quarters. He gained 81 yards in 25 carries before injuring his right knee midway through the final quarter.

Before Broussard’s runs, Agoura (3-5, 3-2) took away the momentum established by Royal’s defense in the first half. Agoura quarterback Eric Fitzgerald was ineffective for most of the game (10 of 29, 75 yards, two interceptions) but connected with Roger Liang for five yards on fourth and goal to tie the score, 7-7, late in the third quarter.

After two Royal possessions ended in a turnover and a punt, a 23-yard run by Agoura’s Tommy Kim (22 carries, 104 yards) set up a 43-yard field goal by Adam Eyre midway through the fourth quarter, giving Agoura a 10-7 lead.

“Normally, if we’re moving the ball, I wouldn’t have been too worried,” Royal Coach Gene Uebelhardt said. “But we weren’t moving the ball. I thought Agoura was going to take the game.”

But Broussard’s performance kept Royal in second place in the Marmonte League and in a good position for a spot in the Southern Section Division II playoffs.

Neither offense moved the ball early but Lee got untracked on a 10-play, 42-yard drive at the end of the first quarter.

Fullback Mike Reddington scored on a one-yard run on the second play of the second quarter for the only scoring in the first half.