WATERTOWN – There’s still two weeks left in the regular season and bowl games to come, but St. Sebastian’s and Buckingham Browne & Nichols probably played the game of the year in the ISL on Friday night.
With either solo or a share of first place on the line, it appeared as if the Knights were going to get a comfortable home win up 28-13 with 4:30 remaining.
Even when the Arrows cut it to eight with nine seconds left, surely there was no way Seb’s could force overtime.
Well, after Cole Shevlin recovered an onside kick at the BB&N 45 with eight seconds left, Duke Ciongoli launched a Hail Mary for the end zone, where Jack Carter came down with it among three blue jerseys for his third touchdown of the night.
The ensuing two-point completion to Jake Beck made it 28-28, stunningly sending the game to overtime.
The Knights ultimately averted disaster quickly.
Seb’s won the toss and correctly chose to play defense first. Owen DeSalvo punched in a five-yard TD on the fourth play of the Knights’ possession, with Jonathan White’s PAT making it 35-28. Two plays into the Arrows’ first possession, Andrew Green picked off Ciongoli to end it, sending his teammates and the student section streaming onto the field.
BB&N remains unbeaten at 6-0 and sits alone atop the standings at 4-0 in the league. St. Seb’s dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the ISL.
“Give the credit to Dan Burke and his staff and the St. Seb’s team. They never quit and they made a bunch of plays at the end,” said BB&N head coach Mike Willey. “That very easily could have been a spot where our team goes ‘oh my goodness, what are we doing?’ But, we preach and preach and preach mental toughness. That took a ton of mental toughness to get it done in the overtime.
“Owen DeSalvo putting the ball in the end zone and then Andrew Green icing it. It was really good.”
DeSalvo and Green both proudly held game balls given to them by Willey while chatting postgame.
“I thought we retaliated very well to end the game,” Green said when asked about recovering from such a stunning ending to regulation.
“The main mindset was just get in the end zone,” DeSalvo added. “I had gotten a couple carries before that (game-winning TD) and was getting yards, so I think…that was our final goal, to score and get up early. So, just being able to preserve and get in the end zone was crucial.”
DeSalvo’s toughness and ability to keep churning out yards late reminded his head coach of a guy named Bo MacCormack who graduated not too long ago.
“I mean, the last OT game we played was up at Governor’s (Academy) and we gave it to a guy named Bo MacCormack like, 14 times in a row. So, we figured let’s do that with Owen DeSalvo. It seemed to work out pretty well,” Willey said with a bit of grin.
Upon hearing about it, DeSalvo was honored.
“It means everything,” he said when told about his coach’s comments. “Bo’s a great player and he’s a great leader too. Just being able to be compared to that is awesome. I don’t really want to be compared to anyone, but that’s an honor and I’m just excited to keep going.”
Early on, the Knights opened with a dominant 11-play, 75-yard drive that consisted of 10 run plays and took nearly seven minutes off the clock. Colin Hoffman capped it with a two-yard plunge. It stayed 7-0 until 6:57 remained in the half, with Seb’s embarking on an eight-play, 36-yard drive that started after forcing a turnover on downs.
A big catch off a deflection on 3rd-&-10 for Shelvin kept the drive alive early. Soon thereafter, a 39-yard run Ciongoli set up a 10-yard TD pass to Carter in the back left corner on 3rd-&-goal. The PAT was no good.
BB&N immediately responded when Liam Walker housed the ensuing kickoff 92-yards. Seb’s punted its next drive, but the Knights fumbled at their own 45, with Jake Beck recovering for the Arrows. A drop on 4th-&-2 moments later resulted in a turnover on downs, but a sack by Ben Walker sent Seb’s into halftime still down by just eight.
Two plays into the second half, Will Kelley had an interception along the Knights’ sideline at the 50. Eight plays after that, Ethan Hatch hit Darin Shaw for a 23-yard TD to push the BB&N lead to 21-6.
Seb’s ensuing drive extended from the 5:55 mark of the third quarter into the first minute of the fourth, ending with a six-yard touchdown catch by Carter. BB&N marched right back downfield after a failed onside and went up 28-13 on a one-yard sneak by Hatch.
Seb’s turned the ball over on downs with 4:24 remaining and the Knights punted down to the Arrows’ 21 with 1:49 left, setting up the insane finish.
“Every game in our league is a slugfest, knock ’em down, drag ’em out, and this was no different,” Willey added. “I’m just so happy for our guys finding a way to win a game.”
