In addition to his 11-of-19, 184-yard day through the air, SCH quarterback Matt Rahill slashed his way to another 172 on the ground in 20 tries. (Photo by Jonathan Vander Lugt)

by Jonathan Vander Lugt

The fourth-quarter score was 28-21, with Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in the lead. Roman Catholic High School had driven the ball to the SCH 26-yard-line in the span of about 30 seconds. Only five were left on the clock.

“It’s so chaotic and hectic that you don’t really think about what could happen next,” said SCH coach Rick Knox. “You’re just trying to get your guys in the right spots. You don’t think about the good or the bad, basically.”

The bad, in this case, would be allowing the Cahillites to knot the game after the Blue Devils led 28-7 at halftime. They even had the ball in Roman Catholic territory with less than a minute left, needing just a yard on a fourth-and-one play to seal the game.

“That’s how I would put it. You’ve just got to get in a zone—process how much time is left, what they’re doing, how they’re lined up, what you’re going to do,” Knox said. “You can’t feel too much emotion.”

Emotion no, but worry or anxiousness? Without a doubt.

“It was definitely nerve-racking,” said SCH quarterback Matt Rahill. “I never doubted that we were going to win though, and that’s the mentality that you’ve got to have.”

Turned out, Rahill was right. Roman quarterback Anthony Butler’s final pass down the near sideline sailed out of bounds, sealing a nail-biting 28-21 Blue Devil victory.

“I’m proud of our team—we played like a family today, which we’ve been preaching all year,” Rahill said. “It was a great win, and a needed one after last week.”

That week featured a loss to Blue Mountain on a miserably hot day. The Eagles came to Chestnut Hill excited and ready to play, but the Blue Devils’ hearts weren’t in it.

“When they won, it was like they won the Super Bowl,” Knox said. “I think that had an effect on our players, because our guys were thinking ‘Oh, it’s hot and I’m tired.’

“That put that much more emphasis on practice. We’ve got to work hard and work together to make less mistakes and I think that’s what happened today. Last week, I told them that I didn’t mind that loss as long as we learned our lesson, and I think we did.”

It started on SCH’s first drive, when Rahill and co. marched 87 yards for a touchdown, capped by Rahill’s five-yard strike to Evan Krawczuk. After a Roman fumble on the next drive, Rahill took the first play and scampered 77 yards for a score.

That run provided the bulk of his rushing yards, but the senior did manage to rack up almost 100 otherwise. In addition to his 11-of-19, 184-yard day through the air, Rahill slashed his way to another 172 on the ground in 20 tries.

“Our offensive coordinator said that Roman was going to be playing man—everyone’s going to be dropping back—so if you see an opening, take it,” Rahill said. “I saw a couple and took what they gave me.”

“He played great. He was the man today,” Knox said. “It’s how he should have played last week. He didn’t play well and it affected him. I’m really proud of how he was able to come back and play today.”

Rahill was responsible for three Blue Devil scores: the aforementioned two, and a second-quarter connection that Tyson Hugee made a nice play on. The other Blue Devil score came courtesy of Jordan Young, a six-yard jog halfway through the second quarter.

Roman scored once in the interim, a three-yard run by Miles McLeod, but was otherwise held in check by a defense that bent—all of RC’s first-half drives went into SCH territory—but didn’t break.

Touchdowns on each of the Cahillites’ first two second-half possessions put pressure on SCH to hang on to the lead, and, by and large, they delivered.

They didn’t score, but moved the ball well enough to take time off the clock, and the defense continued its bend-but-don’t break ways, keeping Roman off the board despite two more fourth-quarter trips to the Blue Devil side of the field.

“I’m not surprised that they were able to run the ball, but ultimately,” Knox said, “you’ve got to make teams earn it in the end.”

“Let’s be honest: they’re bigger, stronger, and they have more depth,” Knox said. Roman bullied its way to 404 total yards, but the aforementioned early fumble and Nick Logue’s fourth-quarter interception kept the Cahillites from sealing the deal.

“If it’s taking a long time, sometimes you’ll make mistakes like did,” Knox said. “It’s an awesome win for us. It was a huge gut-check. I couldn’t be more proud of our character.”