On paper, Friday’s matchup between winless Cardinal Spellman and undefeated St. Mary’s had all the makings of a classic blowout.
Fortunately for the Cardinals, paper didn’t dictate the results.
Jack Duffy ran for three touchdowns and his quarterback option pitch to Brian Gallagher for the decisive two points in the second overtime gave Cardinal Spellman a stunning 22-20 victory over the Catholic Central League leaders.
As much as first-year coach Kahn Chace basked in the glory of his first win at Cardinal Spellman, he felt the seeds for success were planted a few weeks earlier in the midst of a 31-0 loss to Bishop Fenwick.
“We were losing 28-0 at the half and we just talked about fighting, winning individual battles on each play and just go out and have fun,” Chace said. “The second half we held them to only a field goal. Then last week against Bishop Feehan (a 17-0 loss), we felt we were a couple of plays away.”
A good week of practice gave Cardinal Spellman hope that the elusive victory was at the doorstep. Despite the heavy odds against them, the Cardinals were a confident bunch going into the St. Mary’s game. It also helped that the Spartans were less than 100 percent with star David Brown being one of the players out with an injury, a fact not lost on the Cardinal Spellman players.
“Kids are kids and they were aware that Brown was out, so they had the extra confidence,” Chace said. “Then they went out and played really good defense, they made St. Mary’s work for everything.”
The confidence grew as Cardinal Spellman held St. Mary’s to a touchdown in the first half and left the field at halftime deadlocked at 7. Even after the Spartans took a 14-7 lead, Cardinal Spellman kept battling and finally evened the score on a 50-yard touchdown run by Duffy to tie things at 14 with less than three minutes remaining to force overtime.
If the Cardinals felt any pressure, they did a masterful job of disguising it.
“I just looked at my two captains (Duffy and Zack McBrine) and really didn’t have to say a word,” Chace said. “We just looked at each other and started laughing. We were having so much fun being in the moment.”
After a scoreless first overtime, St. Mary’s took a lead in the second half, but didn’t convert on the ensuing two-pointer, setting the stage for the game-winning heroics.
“Our kids stepped up and made the plays,” Chace said. “Even after St. Mary’s converted a fourth-and-25 for a touchdown, our players stepped up and stuffed the run. Then Jack made the winning play after our touchdown when he did a great job on the option pitch for the game winner.”
Something very few outside of Cardinal Spellman felt possible.
SWEET 16
1. CATHOLIC MEMORIAL (7-0) – Knights were dominant on both sides of the ball against Malden Catholic.
2. EVERETT (6-0) – Another week, another one-sided win over an overmatched Greater Boston League foe.
3. XAVERIAN (6-1) – Hawks set the stage for this week’s Catholic Conference showdown with Catholic Memorial.
4. ST. JOHN’S PREP (6-1) – Eagles shrugged off a slow start to hang 40 on BC High.
5. CENTRAL CATHOLIC (6-1) – Ayden Pereira is taking his game to another level at the right time of the season.
6. LINCOLN-SUDBURY (6-0) – If there was any doubt the Warriors were the class of the Dual County League, they were dispelled for good Friday night.
7. READING (7-0) – Rockets keep on keeping on in the Middlesex League.
8. MARBLEHEAD (6-0) – Magicians return to the gridiron with a Friday night tilt against Danvers.
9. FRANKLIN (6-0) – Panthers were taken to the limit against Attleboro.
10. MARSHFIELD (6-1) – Wish we could have gotten a Marshfield-Duxbury battle for the league title sooner than on Thanksgiving.
11. BARNSTABLE (6-1) – Juicy nonleague tilt with Central Catholic to close out the regular season.
12. KING PHILIP (5-1) – Warriors have two weeks to prepare for Marshfield.
13. MILFORD (6-1) – Confidence bunch of Scarlet Hawks ready for undefeated Franklin.
14. DUXBURY (5-1) – Matty Ice did his part to ice down Hingham.
15. SCITUATE (6-1) – Huge Patriot Fisher showdown with Plymouth South this week.
16. NATICK (6-1) – Redhawks scored early and often against Brookline.
"sweet" - Google News
October 25, 2021 at 09:36AM
https://ift.tt/3nojUFC
Danny V’s high school football Sweet 16 - Boston Herald
"sweet" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2PcPlld
https://ift.tt/2KSpWvj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Danny V’s high school football Sweet 16 - Boston Herald"
Post a Comment