St Christophers advances to title game with a stunning finish, 38-34

Senior Malcolm Westbrook had 8 catches for 171 yards in the playoff game with St Christophers.

There have been few contests in Bishop Ireton football history with more action and heart-stopping excitement than the #2 ranked Cardinals 38-34 setback to third-seeded St Christopher’s of Richmond on Saturday on Fannon Field. With 8 lead changes, swings in momentum, turnovers, spectacular plays, and unexpected turns, fans were on the edge of the seats, when the sat at all, during the see-saw affair.

It was the most improbable play late in the fourth quarter than became the game winner though the Cardinals marched 64 yards in the game’s final 50 seconds to keep the contest in doubt until the final play. With 2:28 remaining Ireton’s PJ Zingler hit tight end Matt McShea for a 3-yard touchdown that gave the home team the lead.

When the Aurelian Guillaud kickoff sailed to the 3 yard line and Mike Moseley buried Cameron Barlow on the 7 yardline, the defense followed with a strong effort, forcing an incompletion on first down, a one-yard gain on second down, and a sack of Giles Thompson that was nearly a safety, though officials spotted the ball on the Saints 1, with a 4th and 16 setting up the play of the game. Thompson tossed a pass over the middle to senior Blair Farinholt who lateralled back to junior Cole Carns.

As the stunned home crowd watched Carns make the corner sprinting to the north side of the field, it became obvious that no one was going catch the 5’10”, 170 pound senior as he dashed down the visitors’ sideline untouched, giving St Christopher’s a 38-34 win.

Bishop Ireton drew first blood in the VISAA’s Division I football semifinal when senior Andrew Bladen scored on a one-yard run. The Saints blocked the PAT, but the Cardinals had 6-0 lead. The Saints would respond with a 31-yard field goal by Jordan Chalkley narrowing the score to 6-3. Ireton would up the advantage to 13-3 as they capped a 6-play, 60-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Zingler to Brandon Price-Williams, who would snare 5 passes for 72 yards.

The Saints then posted 14 straight points begining with a 14-play, 60 yard drive capped by a Thompson one yard sneak. On the Cardinals next possession, Price-Williams dashed 20 yards on a 3rd and 15 play, only to lose the football on the tackle and Cameron Barlow alertly scooped it up, raced 41 yards to the end zone and suddenly St Christopher’s held a 17-13 lead.

Zingler would counter, leading the Cardinals on a 10-play, 57-yard drive ending with a spectacular diving 7-yard touchdown to Malcolm Westbrook, one of eight passes for 171 yards the lanky senior would corral on the day. The Nick Galdos PAT returned the lead to the home squad, 20-17, with 2:20 remaining in the first half.

The teams traded possessions to start the second half, but on the Saints second effort of the half, Thompson found senior Miles Jackson for a 77-yard touchdown pass, Thompson would throw strikes of 54, 77, and 99 yards on the day for scores, and St Christopher’s was back on top, 24-20. Westbrook returned the subsequent kickoff 30 yards to the Ireton 44, then Ireton quickly regained the lead on a 5-play drive capped off by a 25-yard strike to Price-Williams, sending the Cardinals into the 4th quarter with a 27-24 lead.

Aurelian Guillaud’s 51-yard punt had backed the Saints deep in their own end, but the Cardinals could not capitalize as the game wound down to the final 4 minutes. The Richmond school started their drive on their own 21, but Thompson hit three different receivers in four passes to move the ball to the Saints’46. There he found Farinholt for a 54-yard pass and the Saints were back on top at 31-27 with 3:52 left to play.

Malcolm Westbrook took a screen pass 46 yards on the next series to almost instantly but Ireton back in the lead, but it would be a 3-yard toss to McShea that gave Ireton the final advantage at 34-31, setting up the Saints’ last minutes’ heroics.

The stunning score notwithstanding, with :51 seconds on the clock and Ireton on it’s own 20, Zingler tried one last time, engineering a 10-play drive, including a 40-yard pass play to Westbrook and a face mask penalty to the Saints, to give the Cardinals one last shot on 4th down at the St Christophers’ 16 yard line and :04 left to play. When the pass to Westbrook was broken up in the endzone, the celebration could begin for the Saints, who head to Lynchburg to play Liberty Christian Academy on Friday for the state championship. LCA downed Flint Hill, 45-3 in the other semifinal.

“I stood on the sideline with 4 seconds left wondering what I would say to the team if we lost on the final play,” explained a happy Mike Turner, head coach of the Saints. “and, you know, I decided it would be the same thing as if we won. It was a tremendous game by two very good football teams that deserved to be here today.”

The Cardinals end the season at 8-3, playing in the playoff for the first time since 2007.

Scoring Summary: 1 2 3 4 Final

St Christopher’s 3 14 7 14 38

Bishop Ireton 6 14 7 7 34

BI – Bladen 1 yard run (kick failed)

SC – Chalkey 31 FG

BI – Price-Williams 17 yard pass from Zingler (Galdos kick)

SC – Thompson 1 yard run (Williamson kick)

SC – Barlow 41 fumble return (Williamson kick)

BI – Westbrook 7 yard pass from Zingler (Galdos kick)

SC – Jackson 77 yard pass from Thompson (Williamson kick)

BI – Paige 25 yard pass from Zingler (Galdos kick)