WESTWOOD — Sometimes it’s good to have a running back who can throw a little.
Lasean Sharp threw a halfback option touchdown pass to Michael Hegarty as time ran out in Catholic Memorial’s stunning 41-38 comeback win at Xaverian.
Asked how often the Knights practice that trick play, CM (3-1) coach John DiBiaso smiled and said, “Every day.”
The play came on the back end of a furious final drive. Xaverian took a 38-35 lead when quarterback Henry Hasselbeck hit Jonathan Monteiro for a 10-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left. Denzil Pierre, who rushed for three touchdowns and 111 yards, caught the two-point conversion. Hasselbeck finished with 157 yards passing and two touchdowns on 10-of-16 completions.
But CM was not done. Quarterback Peter Bourque hit big completions to George Mather, Caleb Garrity, and Isaiah Faublas on that last drive, and finished with 194 passing yards.
The Knights moved to the Xaverian 6-yard line with just two seconds left. After a timeout, CM came out in a full-house backfield, and Bourque took the snap and pitched it to Sharp. The junior ran to his right, gathered the ball in his right hand, and threw a low pass to Hegarty, who did well to catch it with no time on the clock.
“It’s a trick play designed for me,” Sharp said. “We came out, practice it every day. He called it at the perfect time. Coach Dibs, he’s so smart. You never know what he’s going to do. He said, ‘We’re going for the win,’ and that’s what we did.”
“You’ve got to save it for the right time,” DiBiaso said of the play.
Most of the game, Xaverian (3-2) appeared to be the better team, and led for most of the night.
Pierre scored on an 8-yard touchdown on the opening possession. Although CM tied it when Chris Sanchez struck from three yards out, Xaverian struck twice more in the second quarter. Caleb Brown scored on a beautiful 25-yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck.
When Pierre scored again on a 5-yard run, the Hawks led, 20-7, and had all the momentum.
But every time, CM answered. Sanchez had a 1-yard scoring run, and Xaverian went into the break with a 23-14 lead after Joseph MacDonald’s 28-yard field goal.
CM kept chipping away. Zach Brown scored a 4-yard touchdown, but Pierre made a rugged, 33-yard touchdown run over left tackle to push the lead back to 30-21.
Sharp, who had a tremendous second half and finished with 119 yards on 21 carries, had scoring runs of 10 and 2 yards as CM took its first lead with 7:25 to play.
Xaverian was able to get back in the end zone, but left too much time for Sharp and the Knights.
“I’m very proud of all of them,” DiBiaso said. “We had guys out (injured) all over the place. We lost two kids with dislocated shoulders. … Our death was greatly exaggerated. We came right out of the grave tonight.”
