By Kenny Rossi
People say football is a game of inches. It couldn’t be more true for Nativity on Saturday afternoon as they took on Our Lady of Mount Caramel (Md).
With a about minute left the Cougars were less than a foot away from scoring a touchdown to take a late lead over the Green Wave.
After being stuffed on the first three plays, it was 4th and goal from the 2 yard line with only 4 seconds on the clock. The Cougars pitched the ball to starting tailback Eric Stewart, and he was wrapped up at the 5 yard line as time ran out by starting defensive end Jeremy Hoban.
Hoban said after the game, “We knew they were going outside. I grabbed his jersey, then I knew it was over.”
On the first Our Lady of Mt. Caramel possession quarterback Tyquan Bryant connected with wide receiver William Jenkins for a 67 yard touchdown. The extra point try was missed, which would come back to haunt the Cougars later in the game.
Early in the second quarter the Wave struck back with a touchdown of their own as freshman quarterback Dan Lozada connected with wide receiver Kyle Kaledas for a 14 yard touchdown. The extra point was converted giving the Wave a 7-6 lead..
At the end of the first half the Cougars blocked a punt and picked it up, starting a drive on Nativity’s 18 yard line. Two plays later, Bryant found his No. 1 target Jenkins again for a 17 yard touchdown. They were unable to convert the two-point conversion as the Cougars led 12-7 at half.
In the third quarter, Nativity put together a drive that lasted almost 6 minutes. The 69 yard drive was capped by a 5 yard Lozada touchdown pass to wide receiver Brady Morgan. The Wave went for two and Lozada converted giving them a 15-12 advantage.
The Cougars stormed down the field on their first possession of the 4th quarter, but a costly fumble by wide Receiver Phillip Reid at the 1 yard line gave Nativity the ball back.
After two Nativity carries for no gain, an errant snap over Lozada’s head resulted in a safety – the score now 15-14 in favor of Nativity.
After the free kick was nearly returned for a touchdown, the Cougars were in position to win the game with a first and goal at the 1 yard line. Two straight runs up the middle were stuffed before Kaledas broke through to drop Stewart for a 1 yard loss.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the 2, Hoban split a double team and dropped Stewart for another loss as time expired.
The heroic goal line stand of the Nativity defense gave the Wave their first win of the 2013 season. After the big win the Wave players ran over and rang the dust off the Victory Bell.
Head coach Tony Klazas Jr. said after the game that the “kids played with heart”. Jeremy Hoban and Kyle Kaledas both said that it felt “amazing” to ring the bell again. The Wave are now 1-2
Next week the Wave are home again as they battle with Pope John Paul the Great (Del.). They will be looking to go .500 on the season and to ring the victory bell again.
