By Tyler Amaral
NEFJ Staff
SCITUATE – With the score tied at 28 and only 15 seconds remaining in the game, Scituate knew what was at stake on Friday night.
Rather than playing it safe and kicking a field goal, the host Sailors left no doubt.
Senior quarterback Jonny Donovan dropped back to pass from the Norwell five-yard line and delivered a perfectly placed pass to classmate Miller Shea for the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning touchdown.
“It was an awesome experience” said Shea. “I’m grateful that the guys had trust in me and let me go out and make a great play. I couldn’t have done it without my guys.”
After the ensuing kick return, Norwell was left with eight seconds left to pull off a miracle. Junior quarterback Jack Luccarelli delivered a perfect jump ball to Will Corbin for a gain of 29 yards giving the Clippers one last chance to tie the game from the Scituate 36 yard line.
Luccarelli dropped back and again looked to his right, uncorking a deep ball. Scituate junior Grayson Foley was patrolling the deep portion of the field, read the receiver and high-pointed the ball at the goal line for a game-sealing interception and the wild 34-28 win.
“[The final play] was exciting” said Foley. “We knew they were going to go for the deep ball. We read it. We sent four of our guys back and I came down with it.”
With 3:21 left, Norwell tied the game at 28 on a 40-yard touchdown run by Luccarelli.
Scituate (3-0) never wavered under pressure during its final drive. With 47 seconds left on the clock, the Sailors were facing a fourth down and one yard to go from the Clipper 40 yard line.
Scituate attempted to run a quarterback sneak with Donovan but Norwell called timeout just before the snap. After convening with his offense during the timeout, Scituate coach Herb Devine trotted his offense out in the T formation.
Donovan gave the ball to Foley on an inside handoff for a gain of six yards to move the chains.
“We went to the T-formation” said Devine. “We’ve been working on it but haven’t pulled it out and we said ‘hey, let’s go.’”
Donovan then connected with Shea for two passes, including the game-winner, sandwiched around a toe-tapping catch by Cam Cerussi.
The game was back-and-forth throughout.
Norwell (2-1) fumbled on the first play of the game and Scituate immediately took advantage. After getting a fortunate spot on fourth down, Donovan connected with Shea on a 31-yard touchdown.
After getting the ball back, Scituate had a holding penalty on its next offensive play. Devine then drew up a draw play and Foley (23 carries, 205 yards) bursted through the hole for an 86-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 12-0 after one quarter.
Norwell played physically all night and were able to rack up 279 rushing yards as a team.
Junior Colin Gerhart got Norwell on the board with a three-yard plunge in the second quarter.
The Clippers took their first lead of the night, 14-12, when Luccarelli (25 carries, 233 yards) found daylight and scampered 36 yards for a touchdown.
Scituate responded immediately on a 73-yard quick strike from Donovan to Cerussi to send the home team into the locker room up 20-14.
The first 17 minutes of the second half featured no scoring plays. The final seven minutes proved to be dramatic. Norwell regained the lead, 21-20, on a three-yard dive from Gerhart with just under seven minutes left in the game.
Scituate responded 70 seconds later. On a third down and 10 play, Devine called a halfback draw and Foley accelerated for a 49-yard touchdown to put Scituate back up 28-21.
Luccarelli tied the game on a 40-yard touchdown run, shrugging off multiple would-be Scituate tacklers to tie the game at 28.
“Norwell was good. They were physical” said Devine. “Their quarterback, their running game, their line, their defense. They’re a physical team. They’re well-coached. That was a good game. We had to keep making plays and they kept coming back.”
