McDaniel, unbeaten Episcopal Academy spoil first night game at SCH Academy
PHILADELPHIA — Maurcus McDaniel endured a stinging blow to his neck late in the fourth quarter Saturday night at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
The Churchmen were inside the red zone, trailing by seven points with less than a minute to play.
In pain, McDaniel was slow to his feet. The senior quarterback returned to score the touchdown that pulled Episcopal within in a point with 22 seconds left.
EA coach Todd Fairlie then made the gutsy call to go for two points. McDaniel took the snap, pushed ahead and dove across the goal line to give EA the lead and eventually 35-34 victory.
The Churchmen (7-0, 2-0 Inter-Ac League) bested the mightly Blue Devils (6-1, 1-1) in a battle of unbeatens. Episcopal happily spoiled the first night football game in the long history of the school.
Maurcus McDaniel to a wiiiiiide ooen Nick Bates, 61 yard @EA1785_Football touchdown! Kock is good. We are tied 27-27 0:37 4Q #Delcofootball pic.twitter.com/bx7dVPHdZ3
— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) October 20, 2019
Back to McDaniel, who was awesome. He threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a game-high 154 yards and two scores.
He had no plans to sit on the sideline and watch his teammates win the game without him.
“I was doing everything I could for my guys,” McDaniel said. “I would have to leave the field on a stretcher to not be able to come out on the next play.”
EA has found a way to win close games in crunch time. They did a week ago at Penn Charter when Malcolm Folk hauled in a touchdown pass from McDaniel with 32 seconds left in regulation. Episcopal’s has a reputation of a team that is impossible to beat.
“There’s not a moment in any game where we don’t think we can win,” senior lineman Dom Minicozzi said. “This feels like a brotherhood and every time we step out on the field, every time we need a yard, we all get in that huddle and we say let’s go get this yard, let’s get it done. We make it happen. ”
Maurcus McDaniel’s 2-point conversion run gives @EA1785_Football 35-34 win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy
Churchmen improve to 7-0, 2-0 Inter-Ac pic.twitter.com/Kc0cdMCUSV
— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) October 20, 2019
Ke’Shawn Williams, who is the all-time Inter-Ac League’s single-season receiving record, was a handful for the Episcopal defense. Williams took a sweep 55 yards to the end zone moments after Episcopal tied the game at 27 when McDaniel connected with Nick Bates on a 61-yard scoring connection. Williams had nine carries for 109 yards and made seven catches for 53 yards, but he made one costly mistake with four minutes left in the quarter. Williams fumbled a handoff and the ball was recovered by Episcopal linebacker Dylan DiBeneditto, breathing new life into the Churchmen
“(The Blue Devils) have one of the best offenses we’ll ever face. Every time they scored the ball, we had the mentality that we had to keep ourselves in this game,” Minicozzi said. “Our offense had to do a lot of work because their offense is very strong.”
EA marched 46 yards in 10 plays on the game-winning drive.
“I don’t know if we were lucky or what, but we finished it and we got incredible character from the kids,” Fairlie said. “It was such a joy to coach. They embody everything that we ask, including that never-quit attitude. They never point fingers, never blame each other. They all have that next-play mentality. A lot of guys stepped up. We had guys banged up … and it was hard, but it was healthy. It was a great win.”
The first half featured a lot of action by both offenses. Aaron Rascoe (109 yards) ran for all three touchdowns for the Blue Devils, who led 20-14 at intermission. McDaniel hooked up with Bryce Cooper on a 60-yard touchdown to give the Churchmen a 14-12 lead late in the first quarter.
Hard-nosed running back Matt Bush (13 carries, 73 yards) rumbled seven yards to the end zone to pull EA even late in the third quarter. The Blue Devils’ high-octane offense answered when quarterback AJ Graham threw an eight-yard TD pass to Johnson with 15 seconds to go in the period.
After McDaniel’s game-winning TD and two-point conversion run, the Blue Devils attempted a pair of passes, both falling incomplete. Johnson nearly made a miraculous catch deep inside EA territory, but Folk and the EA defensive backs interrupted the pass.
“Our will is undeniable,” McDaniel said. “We’ve been working since the end of last season. Those four quarters seem like nothing compared to all the work we’ve been putting in the last four years. It’s just a lot of hard work to get where we are right now.”
