Tom Dodge
It was fitting that a senior would score the winning touchdown on Senior Night as St. Edmund’s Noah Clause raced with a pitch around the end from five yards out to lift the Blue Jays to a 27-21 overtime victory over the eighth-ranked Elton Indians.
“We fought to the end and finished the game,” St. Edmund head coach Andy Hargroder said. “This win put us against Oberlin for the district lead – that is what we wanted.”
It wasn’t the start the seniors wanted as the Blue Jays fumbled the ball on their second possession of the game and Elton took over at the SEH 42.
On the sixth play of the drive, Elton quarterback Keshawn Lyons scored from 10 yards out and Logan Lejeune’s PAT gave the Indians a 7-0 lead with 4:01 left in the first period.
The Blue Jays were pinned deep in their own territory after a personal foul penalty on the kick off.
St. Ed’s running back Luke Doucet had five straight runs to move the Jays to the Elton 16 and then on the sixth run finished the 90-yard drive with a touchdown run.
The PAT failed and Elton held a slim 7-6 advantage with 1:03 left in the quarter.
An interception by Clause stopped the next Elton drive at the Blue Jay 28 early in the second period.
St. Edmund went 72 yards in just five plays, capped by a 62-yard scoring pass from Brad Miller to Peyton Marcantel.
Miller ran in the two-point conversion to push the Jays ahead, 14-7 with 7:12 remaining before intermission.
The Indians seemed poised to tie the game late in the half, but a fourth-down fumble halted the drive at the Jays’ 29.
A pass from Miller to Marcantel with a horse collar penalty added on moved the Jays to the Elton 40.
After five running plays, a pass interference flag against the Indians helped the Jays advance inside the Elton 15.
Two plays later, Miller scored from four yards out and Marcantel’s PAT gave St. Edmund a 21-7 lead with two seconds left in the second quarter.
The St. Edmund defense held on fourth down at the Jay 11 to stop Elton on its first drive of third period.
But the Jays couldn’t move the ball and was forced to punt after three plays.
The Indians advanced to near midfield before the drive stalled – but a roughing the kicker penalty gave Elton a chance to keep the drive alive.
On the next fourth down, Lyons found Derrick Finley open for a 10-yard catch.
Two plays later, Lyons connected with Jeremy Leonard for a 21-yard scoring strike.
The two-point conversion was stopped inches short as St. Edmund held on to a 21-13 lead with 1:40 left in the third quarter.
The Jays were forced to punt on their next possession and the Indians moved 44 yards in just five plays. A long run by Darnell Robinson advanced the ball to the St. Ed’s 17.
Two plays later, Robinson scored on a 3-yard run.
A two-point conversion pass from Lyons to Leonard tied the game with 8:57 left in regulation.
The Blue Jays fumbled on their next possession and the Indians advanced the ball, but four plays later Hunter Brown snared an interception at the St. Ed 5 with 5:53 remaining.
After a Blue Jay punt, the St. Ed defense held on fourth down near midfield with 19 seconds left.
A long pass attempt was intercepted by Finnley but he was tackled as time expired and the game moved into overtime.
An Elton incomplete pass on fourth down in the end zone kept the Indians scoreless and set up the Blue Jays’ thrilling finish.
Doucet finished with 118 yards on 19 carries as the sophomore now has 899 yards on the season.
St. Edmund (5-1, 3-0 in District 4-1A) now travels to Oberlin (5-1,3-0), while Elton (4-1, 2-1) entertains Basile.
Oberlin cruised to a 42-12 win over Hamilton Christian.