A “lot of prayer”, a confident special teams coordinator and the moment of a lifetime or senior kicker Lucas Nguyen.
Bishop Dwenger had a substantial impact from all three phases in its 36-29 victory over Roncalli.
Tied at 29 apiece early in the fourth quarter, the Saints called up Nguyen’s number on fourth and long — not to attempt the 55-yard field goal for a season-long — but to throw a 37-yard touchdown pass to senior linebacker AJ Shefferly for what would become the game-winner.
“We call it ‘The Assassin Special,’” Nguyen said. “That was my first pass in-game, so it was awesome. It was awesome to be able to give my team all the momentum.”
Shefferly credits backup quarterback, junior Tommy Coffman, for correctly audibling to the play at the line once Roncalli came out in the defense.
“We called it in-huddle and told him he was able to check out of it,” Shefferly said. “When I saw Lucas rolling out, I saw the defender covering me drift up [and] he threw a good ball up to the top.”
The game built up to the moment perfectly. After a 3-0 struggle in week one, both the Royals and Saints sprinted out of the gates in round two and exchanged the lead a total of seven times.
Senior running back Zach Dozier made sure of it — racing for 79 yards to the one-yard line on the opening play of scrimmage to set up the first of three touchdowns by senior quarterback Collin Ash.
“I was hoping to get a field goal to tie it up because we were talking about [this being] the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth quarter [of that week one matchup],” Dwenger head coach Jason Garrett said. “Then they hit us on the first play for 80 yards, and it became a heavyweight fight.”
After the burst from Dozier, the Saints responded with a 24-yard field goal before taking the lead with a 22-yard connection from senior Henry Jordan to his brother, Max.
Roncalli had one more explosive play in its pocket this half as Ash found a striding Luke Roeder for a 79-yard touchdown before Jordan found the endzone on a sneak of his own.
Down 21-16 going into the locker rooms, the Saints responded with a steady drive down the field, capped off by a 15-yard score from senior running back Gus Tippmann.
As it has done all day, Roncalli swiftly responded with an 80-yard drive. Capped off with a three-yard plunge from junior running back Alex Jarvis.
Down in the fourth quarter, the Saints were able to shut the Royals down and score 14 unanswered to seal the victory.
However, it was nearly an all-time ending for Roncalli, instead.
Down seven points with two minutes left, Ash conducted a 10-play, 87-yard drive all the way down to the five-yard line before being intercepted on the last play from scrimmage.
Ash finished the night with over 200 total yards to pair with his three touchdowns, while Dozier racked up 110 yards on his lone five attempts.
“I don’t we slowed them down,” Garrett said. “We just stopped them on the last play. What a great program and a great team … We’re blessed.”
As for Henry Jordan, the senior quarterback put a bow on his career with183 passing yards, 74 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.
“[Henry] has done a great job getting the offense back on track,” Shefferly said. “That was one of the best games I’ve ever seen of a quarterback in the state game.”