No. 2 Wall Stuns No.1 Mater Dei In Final Minute

Photos courtesy of: Kenneth Cook http://theessentialnews.net/

MIDDLETOWN – When you hear the phrase “The Drive” someone most likely is referring to the Denver Broncos 98-yard touchdown drive spanning just over five minutes to tie the game with 37 seconds left and send it into overtime in the 1986 AFC Championship game.

But after Saturday’s clash between No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 Wall, “The Drive” just may have taken on a whole new meaning – at least as far as Shore Conference football is concerned.

Down 7-6 with just over five minutes to play and its offense having been completely stymied by the Mater Dei defense, which had held the Knights to 41 second-half yards and forced them to punt on its three second-half possessions, Wall drove 72 yards in 10 plays to take a 12-7 lead then went for two and converted to push its lead to 14-7.

“In the huddle we were saying, ‘This has got to be our drive right now, if we don’t get in here we’re probably not getting in and we might lose the game,’” said junior quarterback Logan Peters. “We started to get going and had the mentality that we had to score there and we just weren’t going to get denied.”

“That’s the character of this team,” said Wall coach Tony Grandinetti. “I couldn’t be more proud of the staff and the boys, but this is what we train for. For some reason we feed off the fourth quarter, we’re very well-conditioned team and it speaks very highly of the character of the team.”

“The Drive” started with 5:20 left in the game and took a little over four minutes off the clock leaving 1:06 left to play – sound familiar?

And the play that set up the winning touchdown was nothing less than miraculous.

On third-and-4 from their own 46, senior running back Casey Larkin picked up 24 yards on the ground to the Mater Dei 30, but a holding call pushed them back to the 40. On second-and-10 from the 40, Peters found senior Dale McNally, who also had a tremendous game from his cornerback spot, for seven yards setting up a third-and-2 from the 32-yard line.

Peters then fired toward the endzone looking for Larkin, who jumped and had the ball deflect off his hands and into the hands of a tumbling Gus Setteducato right behind him at the two-yard line.

“I thought he (Setteducato) was behind me,” said Larkin. “Then I heard the crowd roar and I knew something good happened.”

“I saw the ball tipped and it just came to me sitting on the ground,” Setteducato said.

Larkin then bulled his way up the middle and into the endzone with a number of tacklers hanging on his back for a 12-0 lead.

“We knew they had players all over the field, but we’re not intimidated by anyone,” said Larkin. “If we keep it rolling and keep it going, I feel we can stop anybody.

“We have guys of all ages all over the field, going both ways,” Larkin added. “That’s just the Wall mentality. If you’re not going to play for your brothers, you don’t belong at Wall.”

Deciding to go for two points, Peters then connected with a wide open Blake Rezk for the two-point conversion to make it 14-7.

Now, with just over a minute to play, Mater Dei’s Clarence Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff 16 yards to the 36-yard line.

Looking at a 64-yard drive to tie the game with 58:07 left on the clock, Mater Dei quarterback Alex Brown dropped back to pass but was pulled down for a 11-yard sack by Rezk.

“Yea, definitely without a doubt,” said Rezk, only a sophomore, when asked if that was the biggest play of his young career. “Collectively as a group we practiced hard all week and fought for each other out there. I can’t put into words how I’m feeling right now.”

Brown then tried to get the ball down the center of the field but Peters undercut him and picked of the ball at the 42-yard line to clinch the victory and set off a wild celebration on the Wall side of the field.

The win gives the Crimson Knights (5-0, 3-0) sole possession of first place in the Colonial Division, one game up on Mater Dei (4-1, 2-1).

Wall’s defense played lights out, limiting Mater Dei running back Malik Ingram, who just last week rushed for 310 yards on 31 carries, to 73 yards on 14 carries and held Brown to 10-of-21 passing for 121 yards and two interceptions.

“We talked all week about rallying to the ball,” said Grandinetti. “The game plan was excellent and the guys bought in. It was really just getting 11 hats to the ball and that’s what we did today.”

Rezk recorded two sacks and linebackers Jaden Carrasquillo and Colin Riley had one sack apiece while defensive end Ian Ackerman (two TFL) was all over the field making plays as was McNally, who recorded double-digit tackles coming up from his cornerback spot.

Sophomore linebacker Charlie Sasso set up Walls first touchdown intercepting Brown at their own 15 and returning it to the 30-yard line.

A defensive hold then gave the Knights a first down at their own 40 late in the first quarter. Larkin picked up 15 and eight yards on consecutive runs and on second-and-2 from the 38, senior running back Matt Desarno took it to the house straight up the gut of the Mater Dei defense for a 38-yard touchdown run.

The extra-point kick was blocked by Isaiah Noguera and the score stood at 6-0 with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

The Seraphs answered right back with a 10-play scoring drive of their own.

Jahqual Talmadge returned a squib kick 13 yards to the Mater Dei 43-yard line and six plays later facing a fourth-and-2 from the Wall 39, Ingram broke lose for a 24-yard pickup down to the 15-yard line.

Two plays later, Ingram scored from two-yards out and Richie Pekmezian’s extra-point kick gave the Seraphs a 7-6 lead with 9:37 left in the half.

The two teams traded punts and the half ended with Mater Dei in the lead 7-6.

Larkin finished with 68 yards on 13 carries and three catches for 28 yards while Desarno added 56 yards on the ground and a touchdown on 12 rushes and Matt Dollive added two receptions for 17 yards. Peters completed 8-of-15 passes for 89 yards and had 23-yards rushing on nine attempts.

Game ball goes to Rezk who finished with two sacks, a fumble recovery, a two-point conversion and numerous tackles.

“Blake played outstanding and the best part about it is he’s a sophomore,” said Grandinetti. “Seeing him for two years now we know what he can do and it’s great to see him execute on the field against an opponent like this.

“I told the guys earlier in the week in a game like this somebody had to step up,” Grandinetti added. “And we need big-time plays from bit-time players and we got them all-around and Blake was one of them.”

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