Holy Cross Used The Philly Special To Beat Fordham In An OT Thriller That Some People Are Calling The Game Of The Year
Telegram and Gazette - Holy Cross did not lead in the second half of Saturday’s Patriot League showdown against Fordham, but the Crusaders’ conviction never wavered.
“We were 100% positive we were going to win that game,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said.
HC battled back from as many as 10 down in the third to tie the score three times in the fourth quarter, including with 1:24 left to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, after HC won the toss and elected to play defense, the Rams struck immediately, with senior quarterback Tim DeMorat hitting senior Dequece Carter with a 25-yard touchdown pass.
On its OT possession, HC overcame a negative play and a holding penalty before junior quarterback Matthew Sluka connected with sophomore Justin Shorter for a 9-yard TD.
The design was for senior wide receiver Ayir Asante to throw the ball to Sluka, but as Asante turned, the sun glare caught his eye, so he decided to run it into the end zone instead.
Asante’s teammates swarmed him as they celebrated an epic 53-52 victory at Fitton Field.
It's time to show Holy Cross some respect. The Crusaders entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the FCS Coaches Poll, and played what some people are calling the game of the year in Worcester last night.
The fact they have Fitton Field packed and going nuts like this is impressive enough.
No joke, back when I was a kid in middle school, like 100 years ago, Holy Cross used to give out stacks of tickets to all the New England Catholic schools for their games. We’d always go, because there really wasn’t a difference between watching them from freezing cold aluminum bleachers and watching the patriots from their old dump, Foxboro stadiums freezing cold bleachers. They both stunk. Point is, the place was never more than 1/4 filled. Seeing nearly 20,000 people show up for a patriot League game is super impressive.
No. 5/8 Holy Cross (8-0, 4-0) remained undefeated and took control in the Patriot League standings. No. 22/15 Fordham fell to 6-2 (2-1).
Holy Cross has won 15 straight Patriot League games.
Their QB, Matthew Sluka is the real deal. Against Fordham he was 15-23 for 291 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed 21 times for 174 yards and a score. He was the recipient of the Dr. Eddie Anderson Award as Family Weekend MVP.
Three of Sluka’s TD passes went to classmate Jalen Coker, including the tying score late in the fourth and a 58-yarder on HC’s opening possession.
Coker finished with six receptions for 131 yards. Shorter, who caught the winning TD pass at Lafayette, had seven catches for 127 yards.
HC senior running back Peter Oliver carried 19 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns.
Their coach, Bob Chesney, is also the real deal.
This marked his 100th career win.
Having the cajones to call this two point conversion in a position like that, and draw up this Philly Special shit was impressive as fuck.
And wage a bitter fight with all your might, Fight hard for Holy Cross!
Somewhere Gordie Lockbaum smiles.