James Joseph (left) and Hannibal Robinson provided the spark in the winning drive for Bishop McNamara (Photos by Derek Toney)
St. John's Charles Brown is pursued by McNamara's Chrison Roe in the first half. Brown scored four times and rushed for 162 yards for the Cadets.
Though Friday's DeMatha Catholic and Good Counsel was the region’s most anticipated football game of the weekend, some thought Saturday’s Bishop McNamara/St. John’s College contest would be just as compelling.
They didn’t disappoint. The Mustangs outlasted the Cadets, 38-35, in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference battle in the District.
Hannibal Robinson’s five-yard touchdown with four minutes, 43 seconds remaining in regulation as McNamara (5-1 overall, 3-1 WCAC) knocked the Cadets (4-2, 3-1) out of first. The teams are now tied for second with Good Counsel (5-1, 3-1), which lost to DeMatha Friday evening, 24-21, in a rematch of last season’s title game.
Senior quarterback James Joseph accounted for four touchdowns for the Mustangs, and Robinson rushed for 122 yards and had two touchdowns. Senior running back Charles Brown had 162 yards rushing for St. John’s and scored four touchdowns.
Down 31-14 in the second half, the Cadets made a stirring comeback in front of a huge homecoming audience, capped by Brandon Baylor’s 15-yard interception return for a 35-31 lead with 8:19 remaining. But the Mustangs didn’t buckled, going 59 yards on the ensuing possession and stopped St. John’s on downs for the win.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” said McNamara coach Bryce Bevill referring to hard fought decisions against St. Albans and Fairmont Heights earlier in the season. “Our team has grown up and we understand as long there’s time on the clock, we still got a chance.”
After throwing two momentum-changing interceptions, Joseph atoned on the eventual winning series, rushing for 31 yards and completed a 17-yard pass to Lamont Hannah. Robinson finished off of the drive with three rushes over the final 28 yards including a dash up the middle for the score.
“I knew it couldn’t happen again, and I had to come back focused,” said Joseph, who completed 16 of 27 for 218 yards. “Everybody kept me focused, so we came back and did our thing.”
Joseph guided three consecutive scoring drives with his one-yard sneak, advancing McNamara to a 31-14 cushion early in the third quarter. Brown responded for St. John’s with a three-yard score, capping a 13-play, 70-yard drive.
After Danny Wright caught a deflected Joseph pass for an interception, St. John’s took advantage as Brown caught a pass from Andrew Konieczka on fourth down and powered his way back into the end zone. A jump pass from Brown to Kyle Kirsch for the two-point conversion, brought the Cadets to within 31-28.
St. John’s got the ball as far as the Mustangs’ five on its next possession, but Konieczka fumbled as he scrambled out the pocket and Marcus Williams recovered. It didn’t matter as Baylor jumped the route and went untouched into the end zone.
Baylor’s heroics would be wiped out minutes later by Joseph and Robinson. St. John’s final charge ended with Konieczka’s pass falling incomplete on fourth down with 2:52 remaining, and McNamara ran out the clock.
“The comeback doesn’t mean anything if you can’t finish the deal,” said Cadets coach Joe Patterson. “We needed to execute a little better on offense and secure tackles on defense, and we didn’t.”
“We did what we could, but they [McNamara] played well,” said Konieczka. “Maybe if we complete that pass on the last drive, we’re still marching down the field. There’s a lot of things that could’ve went right or wrong for us.”
In arguably its toughest stretch, St. John’s host defending league champ DeMatha next weekend before traveling to Good Counsel Oct. 23. McNamara hosts Bishop O’Connell (VA) next weekend.
“From top to bottom, our league is the toughest in the state,” said Bevill in his sixth season. “You got to come play week in and week out.”
Bishop McNamara 38, St. John’s 35
Scoring summary
Bishop McNamara 7 17 7 7-38
St. John’s 7 7 14 7-35
SJ: Brown 19 run (Elsasser kick)
BM: Goldsmith 24 pass from Joseph (Michael kick)
BM: Michael 28 field goal
SJ: Brown 19 run (Elsasser kick)
BM: Robinson 14 pass from Joseph (Michael kick)
BM: Joseph 19 run (Michael kick)
BM: Joseph 1 run (Michael kick)
SJ: Brown 3 run (pass failed)
SJ: Brown 23 pass from Konieczka (Kirsch pass from Brown)
SJ: Baylor 15 interception return (Elsasser kick)
BM: Robinson 5 run (Michael kick)
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