SAINTS SEIZE A THRILLING 21-20 WIN AGAINST JOHNS HOPKINS

Sept. 23: On the sideline, Mike O’Donnell turned and faced the crowd, throwing his hands in the air, urging the crowd to cheer louder. From the field, Ryan McConville cupped his hand around his ear challenging the fans to get loud. Andy Welkley joined in, and then Jerrod Jones.

 

The Saints could feel it. They had accomplished a remarkable feat. Their 21-20 come-from-behind win against Johns Hopkins University on Saturday was one that none of those players will soon forget.

 

Leading 14-0 with less than a minute left in the third quarter, the Saints looked to be in control of the game. Turnovers however, and Blue Jays running back Phil Roberts were the Saints nemesis in the fourth quarter. Johns Hopkins scored on three straight drives to take a 20-14 lead. Deflated and without momentum, St. Lawrence got the ball back with 3:28 left in the game. The Saints responded with an exhilarating15 play, 88 yard scoring drive that put them up 21-20 after Matt Popov’s successful PAT.

 

“We played our hearts out today,” Saints quarterback Matt Bezio said. “We just had guys stick in there and make plays.”

 

Bezio was one of those guys. The senior quarterback engineered the final scoring drive, throwing two critical passes and scrambling for a first down to keep the drive alive. On third down and five, Bezio rushed for 18 yards to gain a first down. Four downs later, on a play that would have sealed a loss for the Saints, Bezio connected with wide receiver Troy Lassial for a 10 yard completion.

 

“Matt just hung in there on that play and made something out of nothing,” Saints head coach Chris Phelps said. “If he doesn’t make that play we lose the game.”

 

On the next play, Bezio tossed a 30 yard pass to freshman running back Connor Hackett who tip-toed in bounds to make the catch. That play set up the six yard touchdown pass from Bezio to tight end Brett Young to seize the Saints victory.

 

After a scoreless first quarter, the Saints scored on their final drive of the first half. Bezio tossed a 35 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike O’Donnell to put them up 7-0 with one minute left in the second quarter. The Saints struck again with just over seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter when Bezio hit O’Donnell again for a 79 touchdown pass, the longest reception of his career.

 

O’Donnell, who had all of the Blue Jays defenders beat, said he felt like the ball was in the air forever.

 

“Matt threw a great pass and I just had to wait for it to come down,” O’Donnell said. “It was a perfectly thrown ball.”

 

That play was the end of the Saints momentum until the final drive of the game. The Blue Jays got on the board in the final seconds of the third quarter when running back Phil Roberts, who rushed for 163 yards on the day, broke loose for a 19-yard touchdown run. Ben Scott however missed the PAT making the score 14-6.

 

Johns Hopkins struck again on its next series,when quarterback Shane Kibbe rushed for a two yard touchdown. A failed extra point attempt made the score 14-12.

 

Things went from bad to worse for the Saints when Bezio was intercepted at midfield on the ensuing drive. The Blue Jays converted that turnover into seven points after marching eight plays and 54 yards for a touchdown putting Johns Hopkins on top 20-14.

 

That is when the Saints offense took the field for the remarkable, winning drive.

 

“At that point, we were really down because we had just given up three touchdowns we couldn’t get anything to go our way,” Phelps said. “But to come out and march down the field the way we did and make the plays we did shows how much heart our kids have.”

 

Johns Hopkins got the ball back with 20 seconds left in the game, but the Saints defense held, sending O’Donnell’s hands in the air and the entire Saints team into celebration.