RallyNorth.net

Sat, Nov 22, 2014 02:30 PM @ Windham

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
St. Thomas Aquinas	0	14	14	0	28
Windham	14	7	2	15	38

McInnis (5 TD passes) rescues Windham in title game

Friday, December, 12 By Dave Dyer

DURHAM — Victory couldn’t have been sweeter for Windham Saturday afternoon.

The Jaguars not only finished the season unbeaten (11-0) by winning their first Division 2 state title, 38-28 over St. Thomas, but it came at the expense of the same team that beat them in the state finals three years earlier.

Moreover, showing the character of a true champion, Windham had to rally back from their only second-half deficit of the season. The Jaguars stormed to a 21-0 lead early in the game only to find themselves trailing 28-21 midway through the third quarter.

“To finish like this, I’ve never been this happy,” said star quarterback Brendan McInnis, who threw a career-high five TD passes. “I hardly have any words to describe this. They’re a great team and to come back and beat them is the greatest feeling.”

McInnis completed 8 of 14 passes with no interceptions for 151 yards and had several key runs. Joey Frake caught three touchdown passes and Anthony Gallo two.

“That was a real roller coaster, and I don’t want to go on another!” said Bill Raycraft, who has coached Windham in all five of its varsity seasons. “But the kids showed a lot of character and they deserve this. Brendan had a great game, but we needed the defense to step up and they did.”

Indeed, the defense played outstanding in the pivotal first and fourth quarters.

St. Thomas elected to receive the ball to start the game, but the Windham defense was hot early, stopping the Saints without a first down in the first two series. On the third series, Gallo intercepted one of three passes thrown by St. Thomas star QB Stephen Hedberg and returned it 44 yards to the St. Thomas 39.

Three plays later, McInnis threw a 38-yard TD strike to Frake, making it 21-0. Earlier, he threw a 42-yard scoring beauty to Gallo followed by a 10-yard score to Frake.

Two of the early aerial strikes came following some nifty play-action as St. Thomas had to respect the running of Kurt Jolicoeur (18 carries, 101 yards) and Kellin Bail (10-75).

But St. Thomas narrowed the gap to 21-14 by halftime, scoring on a 67-yard drive and a 35-yard drive set up by a fumble recovery.

The momentum seemed to be shifting  and it continued in the third quarter with Hedberg’s third and fourth TD passes (he shattered the state record with 35 TD passes this fall) to open the half. The second of those came on a fluke deflected pass right into the arms of Liam Middleton, who zoomed toward the end zone to complete a 58-yard pass play.

Now trailing 28-21, the Jaguars seemed to be in some serious trouble. But they hardly panicked.

“We knew they’d make big plays, so we knew they’d be right in it, but we had confidence we would come back,” said Matt Shea, who had one of three Windham interceptions.

Windham seemed be on the wrong side of destiny on its first possession following the deficit when, after a 57-yard burst by Bail gave the Jaguars the ball on the St. Thomas 5, they failed to get it in the end zone. They failed on three attempts from inside the 1-yard-line.

But two plays later, Victor Pizzotti tackled Hedberg, who fumbled in the end zone. St. Thomas fell on the ball but that gave Windham a safety and two points, making it 28-23.

And then it was all Windham to close out the game.

“I thought the safety gave us some momentum back and then everyone stepped up,” said Raycraft.

A bad snap on fourth down early in the fourth quarter gave Windham the ball on the St. Thomas 44, resulting four plays later in a beautiful 29-yard strike to Gallo. That made it following a McInnis conversion run — 31-28 with the Jaguars back in the lead.

After another three and out by St. Thomas, Windham put the game on ice at the 6:02 mark with a 12-yard beauty of a pass to Frake in which McInnis scrambled across the field and then thread the needle between two defenders.

St. Thomas, which knocked off unbeaten Kennett last week, could never get untracked again. In the fourth quarter, it rushed for seven yards, while passing for -2 yards and throwing two interceptions.

Windham got fine work in the secondary by Shea, Frake and Gallo. They were complemented by the linebacking play of Jolicoeur and the pressure up front by — among others — Pizzotti and Davis Potter.

“They’re a great team and we knew they’d come back,” said McInnis. “I’ve never been so nervous entering a game as today and now I’ve never been so happy.”

Windham 38, St. Thomas 28

St. Thomas Aquinas (9-2):  0 14 14 0 — 28

Windham (11-0): 14  7 2 15 — 38

First Quarter

W — Anthony Gallo 42 pass from Brendan McInnis (Gallo kick), 9:05

W — Joey Frake 10 pass from McInnis (Gallo kick), 1:15

Second Quarter

W — Frake 38 pass from McInnis (Gallo kick), 11:55

ST — Liam Middleton 10 pass from Stephen Hedberg (Nick Guilfuchi kick), 8:06

ST — Nate Grunberg 8 pass from Hedberg (Guilfuchi kick), 5;14

Third Quarter

ST — Charlie Pollock 10 pass from Hedberg (Guilfuchi kick), 7:20

ST — Liam Middleton 58 pass from Hedberg (Guilfuchi kick) 4:55

W — Safety, Victor Pizzotti makes tackle in end zone, 1:20

Fourth Quarter

W — Gallo 29 pass from McInnis (McInnis rush), 10:31

W — Frake 12 pass from McInnis (Gallo kick), 6:02

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: Windham (46-222) — Kurt Jolicoeur 18-101, Kellin Bail 10-75, Brendan McInnis 14-25, Matt Shea 3-21, Shane LaFond 1-0; STA (32-100) — Stephen Hedberg 9-35, Tommy Bennett 11-31, Sam Andolina 2-10, Trevor Martin 2-10, Zach Knight 2-9, Nick Guilfuchi 1-0, Charlie Pollock 4-5

PASSING: Windham — McInnis 8-14-0, 151, Bail 0-1-1, 0; STA — Hedberg 17-24-3, 154, Guilfuchi 0-1-0

RECEIVING: Windham — Joey Frake 4-65, Anthony Gallo 2-71, Bail 1-13, Shea 1-2; STA — Liam Middleton 5-78, Pollock 4-22, Nate Grunbeck 3-19, Kevin Gould 2-32, Bennett 1-6, Martin 1-0, Will Micali 1-(-3)