One yard was likely going to decide the rest of Fordham Prep’s season.
“We knew what was on the line,” senior linebacker Kyle McVicker said. “We knew this was the game that was going to turn our season around. All we needed was one stop.”
The Rams held a six-point lead in the second overtime as it looked to turn Monsignor Farrell back on fourth-and-goal. It had already stopped Lions running back Charles Kamara from the 1-yard line on third down and the Lions handed him the ball again. McVicker came from the outside and plugged the hole with tackle Chris Sullivan to drop Kamara before he could get in for the score.
“I was very concerned when it was less than a yard,” Fordham Prep coach Pete Gorynski said.
The stop gave Fordham Prep a 13-7 double overtime win over Monsignor Farrell in a CHSFL Class AAA game at Coffey Field Saturday night. The win jumps the Rams over the Lions in the standings and puts them on the inside track to a spot in the AAA playoffs.
Fordham Prep (3-3, 3-2, CHSFL ‘AAA’) easily could have been going the other way and return to the Class AA playoffs had it not been for its defense. The Rams allowed just a first-quarter 2-yard touchdown by Michael Viegas, who was banged up all week and left the game in the second quarter with a sore Achilles after a hard tackle. The sophomore’s TD gave Farrell a 7-0 lead, but the Lions were kept at bay the rest of the way.
McVicker made a tackle on 4th-and-goal from the 8 to keep the Lions out of the end zone late in the fourth. The defense, which also recovered two fumbles and had an interception, then stopped Farrell (3-3, 2-3) from scoring a touchdown on their first possession of overtime and Anthony Rubilotta missed the ensuing field goal.
“We tried hard not to,” Farrell coach Ben Sarullo said when asked of his team’s inability to close the game out.
Even though he had just seen Kamara (16 carries for 68 yards) stopped on the previous play, Sarullo said passing on 4th down wasn’t an option.
Fordham’s Anthony Bronzo pulled his 26-yard field goal attempt wide on his team’s first overtime possession. The Rams, who tied the score at 7-7 on 19-yard Max Kinder touchdown pass to Brendan McGlynn, responded with a 5-yard Grant touchdown run in the second overtime. The ensuing extra point was blocked to make it 13-7.
Fordham’s defense, though, made the biggest one of all with the game and, the Rams’ believe, their season, on the line
