Ruden Sports News

After he had put the final punctuation mark on Staples’ improbable last-minute victory over St. Joseph, Shane Sandrew tried his best to describe what had just happened.

“It was the craziest 14-10 game I’ve ever been in in my life,” Sandrew said.

The final score would scream a bunch of defense and a bunch of punts. And there were both today at Dalling Field. The final score would also suggest it was a rather ho-hum affair.

Ho-hum, it was not.

Quarterback Nick Weil, who had been responsible for six turnovers, dropped back and found Sandrew for a 42-yard touchdown strike with 47.4 seconds remaining.

St. Joseph, within a minute of victory, dropped to 5-3.

Staples, ranked seventh in the state, pushed to 7-1.

With a total of 10 turnovers, including three in four plays in the fourth quarter, both coaches were pushed to the brink.

“Unusual is a good way to put it,” Staples’ Adam Behrends said. “I haven’t been around a lot of them like that.”

“You’ve got to fight back,” the Cadets’ Joe Della Vecchia said. “We kept fighting. Every game is a playoff for us right now. They played their hearts out. One mistake. Couldn’t get a first down. We should have iced the game. They turned around and made the play.”

To set the stage:

On the first series of the game, Jake Rios broke off a 54-yard touchdown reception from HT Jones, who returned after missing two games with a concussion he suffered against Darien. 

Staples would answer back after a fumbled punt by Jason Pagano and recovery by Justin Halky at the Cadets’ 16. Kody Goldman bulled his way from the 3 to tie the game with 5:05 left in the second quarter.

“We talked at halftime that you’ve got to win some games like this to win a state championship,” Behrends said. “We had to stop a two-point conversion to win a state championship (against West Haven last year). We have experiences we can draw back on.”

St. Joseph would take a 10-7 lead in the third quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Rios after Finn Kilmartin recovered a Weil fumble on Staples’ 17-yard line.

Matters got crazy in the fourth quarter. Yet after a terrific interception by TJ Wright followed by Weil’s third interception by Pagano with two minutes left, the Cadets looked to be in good shape.

“The last two games, we outplayed two teams that were No. 1 in the state at one point,” Della Vecchia said. “Greenwich scored three points on us. We scored the rest for them. Staples and Darien both scored 14. We gave up 31 points to the top three teams in the state. We got nothing to show but losses. That’s tough to take.”

Behrends said he’d talked with his players all week about facing adversity, going to a place where they hadn’t won in a long time, against a program that has won 15 state championships.

“We had a little more adversity than any of us anticipated,” Behrends said. “But they responded every time it popped up. They kept coming.”

After Pagano’s interception, Behrends went up to Weil.

“Coach said we’re going to get another opportunity and we’ve got three timeouts left,” Weill said. “We’re going to get the ball back. We need you in this game.”

Behrends would later laugh about it.

“There were about four of those, ‘We’ll get another chance.’ We almost ran out of them,” the coach said.

Wouldn’t you know it?

Davis Crandall recovered a St. Joseph fumble on the very next play with 1:40 remaining.

“I can’t thank the defense enough,” Weil said. “They were on the field for almost three quarters of the game. 

“Six turnovers is a lot. I’ve never had that happen to me.  I definitely felt some doubt. The support of my teammates and coaches helped me get over that.”

So, redemption time?

Not quite yet.

Weil went on a long scamper two plays later only to fumble the ball for a third time. St. Joseph’s Lameik Black recovered it.

“I know who Nick is,” Behrends said. “We know how our kids are never going to quit. He could have had six interceptions and four fumbles and we’re still going to trust him. I know the confidence he has and the confidence his teammates have in him.”

Two runs and a pass incompletion. A great stop by the Staples defense, that accounted for four turnovers itself. Rios punted. Fair catch. There were 52.9 seconds left.

“Our defense played spectacular, giving opportunity after opportunity,” said Sandrew, who plays both wide receiver and defensive back. “We’re just so fortunate to have guys like Davis Crandall and Charley Leahy making plays.”

“Our defense is unbelievable,” Behrends said. “They’ve carried over from last year. Our coaches on that side of the ball do a great job. They play smart. They’re disciplined. They play. They’ll bend at times, but don’t break.”

So with 52.9 seconds left the Wreckers reached into their bag for a bunch play that hadn’t been used Saturday.

“We haven’t even actually run that play in practice for a minute,” Behrends said. “Coach Matty (Jacowleff) on the sidelines suggested that one. I looked at him. We’d kind of run out of bullets in the chamber and I said, ‘I like that one.’ Great call by him.”  

Sandrew said he just looked at the cornerback, ran his post pattern and was lucky enough to be open over the top. Weil said Sandrew was able to get outside release. The safety went with Sandrew. 

“He was wide open,” Weil said. “I just threw it and hoped for the best. 

One final problem.

“I couldn’t see the ball because the sun was right there,” Sandrew said. “I just jumped up and was lucky enough to come down with it.”

He made a move on two defenders and scored the dramatic winning touchdown. There would be a wild celebration.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Weil said. “But now I can.”

“Today shows a lot about Nick’s character,” Sandrew said. “We spend a lot of time together and he’s a very resilient guy. He makes a mistake, he’s focused on the next play.”