MA-CATHOLIC: Late mistake doesn't shake Catholic QB in win over Eagles
On a rain-soaked night at McLemore Field, freshman quarterback Caleb McCreary found enough of a passing game to lead Catholic to a 35-28 overtime win over Montgomery Academy. (Tim Gayle)
By GRAHAM DUNN
On an imperfect night complete with a steady rain and a slippery track, Montgomery Catholic quarterback Caleb McCreary had done everything he could to protect the football.
It worked for three and a half quarters until a pass went awry and into the hands of Montgomery Academy’s JaShawn Cooper, leading to an MA go-ahead touchdown just minutes later.
“I knew I couldn’t let the seniors down, it couldn’t be their last game,” stated the freshman. “I knew I had to come back and win the game. But it was my fault.”
Trailing 28-21, McCreary and the Knights would answer with their own late score to send the game into overtime where eventually they would pull out a 35-28 victory and a trip to the Super 7 next Thursday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Prior to the interception, McCreary had been nearly flawless despite rain that had started well before the kickoff at MA’s McLemore Field. In fact, there was more than a one-hour delay to the start due to lightning, making the field nice and slippery before the two teams got it going.
The plan all but changed at that point with Catholic finding the running game more to its liking.
“It changed a lot in the first half,” stated Catholic coach Aubrey Blackwell “The weather caused us to drop three or four passes. We missed a couple of good touchdown opportunities. We had to dig deep into our playbook in the second half.”
McCreary wasn’t ready to give Mother Nature any credit for his mistake although conditions were not exactly to his liking.
“It was tough at times,” he said. “We had to be more careful and I think we changed a few things but we were still able to move the ball.”
The game was tied 7-7 at the half but then both teams seemed to throw caution in the wind, literally. McCreary got things going in the half setting up a score with a 41-yard romp while scrambling to pass, ending up deep in MA territory. D.J. Carter scored on the next play for a 14-7 lead.
That would lead to plenty of scoring in the half with both teams passing the football with success.
With 5:48 left in regulation, McCreary suffered the first turnover of the game for either team when he tossed a pass over the middle where Cooper was the lone player around the ball.
“It was just a bad pass and I was shaken a little after that pick but I give credit to my teammates who lifted me up,” McCreary said. “Everything was out the window then and (I) let God work.”
“We needed him to settle down and make plays on those last drives,” Blackwell said.
On the ensuing possession, McCreary would come back to throw to D.J. Cobb for the game-tying touchdown for 51 yards and send the game into overtime.
On the drive, McCreary completed all three pass attempts.
“He made some amazing plays,” Blackwell said of his quarterback. “Considering the weather, it was one of the cleanest games. Give credit for both teams for playing as well as they did.”
The Knights get to do something no other team in program history has – play for a state title in football. The closest any Catholic team came was in 1989 when it lost to Georgiana in the semis.
The Knights (12-2) will face Fyffe in the Class 3A state championship on Thursday.
“It hasn’t sunk in, not yet,” McCreary said, “but we’ve dreamed about this and talked about it last summer. I talked about this with my parents and knew a freshman quarterback had led a team to the championship before. We knew it could be done.”