MECHANICSBURG, PA — A month ago, Aidan Grella was in bed with mononucleosis hoping to kick again this season. On Friday night at Cumberland Valley High School’s Chapman Field, the Bishop McDevitt junior kicker stood there shivering from a combination of leftover nerves and a winter chill with the PIAA Class 5A championship game ball tucked under his left arm.
Grella’s 22-yard field goal in overtime gave the Crusaders their third PIAA state championship and second PIAA Class 5A title in the last two years in a thrilling 34-31 victory over a never-say-quit Roman Catholic team.
McDevitt’s Kentucky-bound Stone Saunders started the game as Pennsylvania’s No. 2 all-time leading passer and ended it as the state’s No. 1 all-time leading quarterback with 13,719 career yards passing and 204 career touchdowns, surpassing the previous marks held by Steelton-Highspire’s Alex Erby (13,567 yards/175 touchdowns).
But McDevitt’s hero was someone who was not supposed to be—Grella, who missed a 43-yard field goal attempt on the last play of regulation.
“I was in bed a month ago, but with God, everything I do is through Him, and sometimes he blesses you, and sometimes he puts obstacles in your life, and you have to keep pushing,” said Grella, who missed a 52-yard field goal attempt by inches earlier this season in an overtime loss to Harrisburg. “I was upset over missing the kick in regulation. I wanted another shot. I had a lot of nerves going through me. I’m still nervous.”
Grella was given the game ball by McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter. Grella said he was going to frame it and remember it for the rest of his life.
Weachter had no doubts his kicker would come through.
“Aidan just overkicked at the end of regulation, and ultimately we won,” Weachter said. “Roman Catholic is a dangerous team. They have a lot of talented kids, and they were very fast. It is really a shame someone had to lose this game. There were two greats out here playing tonight. They deserved to win, too. I’m just glad it was us.”
With 5:44 left to play, it did not look like it. Roman’s Louis Gaddy turned a deflected pass into a 75-yard interception return and a 31-28 Cahillites’ lead. But Saunders drove McDevitt right back with a nine-play, 77-yard drive that ended with Grella booted a 20-yard field goal to send the game into overtime with 2:55 left.
McDevitt won the toss and elected to defend in overtime. That’s when Roman’s sterling junior quarterback Semaj Beals began cramping up. The Cahillites were thrown back, and had to rely on sophomore Eli Pollack to attempt a 30-yarder, which missed.
That appeared to seal it for McDevitt. The Crusaders ran three-straight dive plays to the Roman five, and Grella confidently trotted out to hammer home the game-winning kick.
What cannot get lost in this was Roman was down, 21-3, with 10:19 left in the third quarter. The Cahillites looked all but sunk.
Roman, however, was not willing to go away that easily. The Cahillites scored on successive drives in odd ways. First, Zamir Newsuan fell on a fumble in the end zone to conclude one drive, and after a McDevitt stop, CJ Miller took a pass from Rayshawn Scott off a fake punt for a 52-yard TD with 3:10 left in the third quarter.
And what looked like a blowout was a slim 21-17 McDevitt lead.
Saunders was not through. He led the Crusaders right back hitting Jontai Quick with a 32-yard completion, with Saunders capping an explosive third quarter with a one-yard sneak that gave McDevitt a 28-17 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Beals, who will be the state’s No. 1 quarterback entering next season, completed 13 of 33 for 139 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 51 more.
“I don’t know what happened, I was getting cramps up and down both of my legs, to the point I couldn’t move,” he said. “No excuses. I knew we would come back. I liked the fact no one gave up. We fought. We made our run, but we didn’t finish. That’s on me.
“I will tell you this, we’re coming back here. This hurts now, I’m not going to lie. But we will be back. We will back and we won’t make the same mistakes this time. A loss isn’t a loss, it’s a lesson.”
Saunders was being pulled every which direction afterwards, but he time to revel in the victory and the star quarterback was grateful, for once, to a kicker.
“Aidan is a warrior, what I can say,” said Saunders, who closed his high school with a 52-6 mark, completing 19 of 26 passes to six different receivers for 287 yards. “We knew we could rely on him. Going out as a state champion in two out of three years isn’t bad.”
Scoring Summary
(District 12) Roman Catholic (11-5) 3 0 14 14-0-31
(District 3) Bishop McDevitt (14-2) 7 7 14 3-3-34
1st Quarter
RC – Eli Pollack 25 FG, 8:36
BM – Dominic Diaz-Ellis 41 pass from Stone Saunders (Aidan Grella kick), :34
2nd Quarter
BM – Nazir Jones-Davis 5 run (Grella kick), 2:50
3rd Quarter
BM – Diaz-Ellis 30 pass from Saunders (Grella kick), 10:19
RC – Zamir Newsuan fumble recovery in end zone (Pollack kick), 7:53
RC – CJ Miller 52 pass from Rayshawn Scott (Pollack kick), 3:10
BM – Saunders 1 run (Grella kick), 2:50
4th Quarter
RC – Scott 31 pass from Semaj Beals (Pollack kick), 9:38
RC – Louis Gaddy 75 INT return (Pollack kick), 5:44
BM – Grella 20 FG, 2:55
OT
BM – Grella 22 FG
FULL GAME STATS
RC/BM
FIRST DOWNS 21/19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 36-161/44-138
PASSING YDS (NET) 191/287
Passes Cmp-Att-Int 14-35-2/19-27-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 71-352/71-425
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0/0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 1-15/1-3
Kickoff Returns-Yards 3-48/6-129
Interception Returns-Yards 1-75/2-10
Punts (Number-Avg) 3-27.7/2-32.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-0/0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-42/9-77
Possession Time 17:26/30:34
Third-Down Conversions 5 of 16/6 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions 2 of 3/0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 2-3/4-6
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall-of-fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com]. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball [twitter.com].
