The first time SLUH quarterback Trevor McDonagh played at DeSmet’s Pierre LaBarge Stadium, the game didn’t go so well.
McDonagh was a sophomore, making his varsity debut because SLUH senior quarterback Michael Riddering had broken his collarbone in the previous game. McDonagh’s first set of downs was a disaster: a sack, a missed throw and an interception. It didn’t get much better the rest of the night as the Spartans rolled to a 35-7 win.
“I couldn’t watch it,” McDonagh’s mom Julie recalled. “It was his first start on the varsity and I felt so bad for him.”
McDonagh (above) redeemed himself Oct. 21, 2011, showing more grit and determination than ever in accomplishing — along with his Jr. Billiken teammates — a thrilling 37-31 come-from-behind, double overtime victory over DeSmet. The senior quarterback threw for five touchdowns and a SLUH single-game-record 424 yards passing in the thrilling win over the Spartans on their home field, on their Senior Night.
The victory was nothing short of “stunning,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Breathtaking might be more like it, at least to the McDonaghs and other SLUH fans in the stands.
The game had its share of emotional ups and downs, from SLUH’s first possession — a McDonagh 43-yard touchdown pass to Stefan Sansone (right) just 55 seconds into the game — to McDonagh’s final touchdown pass three hours and 13 minutes later.
DeSmet of course, came charging back into the game, and when Durron Neal — one of the area’s best players who will play college football at Oklahoma — rushed for a touchdown late in the 3rd quarter, the Spartans were up 28-14.
When DeSmet intercepted McDonagh on the next set of downs and ran it back inside the 20, the outlook appeared grim for the Oakland Ave. Jesuits. But DeSmet failed to score points off the turnover and missed a field goal, leaving the door open at the start of the fourth.
The time was a little after 9 p.m. CDT. What would transpire over the next one hour and 13 minutes is something these young men will be talking about for years to come, when they are doctors, accountants, lawyers, fathers and grandfathers, bellying up to the bar at the reunion Happy Hour.
So many things had to go right for SLUH to come back and tie the game, then win in the second overtime.
Among them:
After the missed field goal, SLUH came roaring back but faced a 4th-an-7 from their own 20. SLUH field goal kicker Dan Tlapek is a reliable as they come, but coach Gary Kornfeld didn’t hesitate to go for the touchdown. McDonagh threw a screen pass to Terek Hawkins (above), who caught it at the 10 and scrambled one way, then reversed and ran the other way into the endzone to shorten the gap to 28-21 with 10:28 left to play.
DeSmet was unable to answer, but a fortunate bounce on a punt that appeared headed for the end zone instead found the Jr. Bills pinned at the 1-yard line. McDonagh and his offense scrambled, scratched and scrapped their way 99-yards downfield, including getting out of another 4th-and-long. The drive culminated in McDonagh, out of the shotgun, passing to Cameron Stubbs who caught it at DeSmet’s 1-yard line and ran in for the score. Tlapek’s extra point tied the game with 4:49 remaining.
DeSmet answered with a drive of its own and was threatening at the SLUH 10-yard line with 2:34 in the game. Quarterback Conner Harrison lobbed a pass to the corner of the endzone, where Stubbs, at cornerback, was providing ample coverage of DeSmet’s KeVonn Mabon. Stubbs intercepted (right) and the score remained tied.
SLUH got the ball first in overtime, and after three attempts at the endzone setttled for a field goal. When the SLUH defense stopped DeSmet on its first three possessions, the DeSmet kicker — who had missed two previous field goals in the game — cooly came in and kicked a 43-yard field goal to tie it.
DeSmet won the toss for the second OT and elected to go on offense first — hoping to catch the SLUH defense gassed. Not a chance. Raymond Wingo intercepted Harrison and SLUH was in the driver’s seat.
That’s when McDonagh, having already exorcised with four TD passes any demons that might have remained on that DeSmet field from two seasons ago, calmly stepped back into the shotgun and found Stubbs again racing toward the endzone (left) — the exact play on which SLUH tied the score. Game over.
It was 10:13 p.m. While the Jr. Bill bench stormed the field, SLUH parents, students and fans were delirious in the bleachers — even some, like Julie McDonagh and this mom, in tears.
And why wouldn’t we be? How many uniforms do you wash, how many late-night dinners do you make, how many games do you stand out in the cold or how many rides do you give to and from practices just so your son can be a part of something special like this?
McDonagh got the headlines the next day, but he really is the kind of kid who would be the first to tell you it was a team victory.
He would want to mention Hawkins’ runs, and Stubb’s heroics on both sides of the ball, and Tlapek’s reliable leg, and Sansone’s and Mitch Klug’s steady hands, and the blocking provided by the offensive line of Alec Abeln, Sam Knesel, Andy Riek, Aaron Kerwood and TJ Daniels that enabled him to scramble all night. And Wingo (right) and the gritty SLUH defense, and special teams play, and the rest of his teammates who line up against him in practice day in and day out. And two SLUH players in particular — captain Bryan Mathews and Sean Rammaha, both starters, both watching because of torn ACLs — every bit a reason why this team has gotten as far as it has.
The Season is far from over. There’s one more regular-season game, one more bit of a business — Lindbergh High — to take care of before these young men can even think about the playoffs and all that entails.
But at 1:30 a.m. this mom was heading to bed and saw the light on in the room of No. 45, Matt McCarthy. He was huddled over his laptop, watching the game replay on Fox Sports Prep Zone and already reliving the moments.
“I hope you remember this night always,” I told my son as I kissed him on the head.
“Oh I will, Mom.
“I will.”
Pictures by Nancy Winkelmann. To view more from this game and the entire Jr. Billiken varsity season, visit nancywinkelmann.zenfolio.com/varsitypix
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