Holy Cross got on the board first tonight with a field goal after their drive stalled in the red zone. St. Augustine’s quarterback Tre Woodson looked almost like he would single handedly win the game, rushing when he was pressured and to pick up extra yardage, or finding an open receiver right before the pressure got to him. The Purple Knights had sustained drives of over 60 yards on their first two scores.
Holy Cross seemed to stay with their game plan even being down late in the first half 14-3. This helped lead to a score from sophomore running back Jaden Handy to get the Tigers right back in the game and some momentum going in at halftime 14-10 Purple Knights.
Holy Cross came out on fire, junior linebacker Tyler Grubbs was a tackling machine for the Tigers and was in or around each play made by the defense. The Purple Knights would answer the Tigers previous first half touchdown with a touchdown of their own late in the third quarter, and then miss on the following extra point.
Coming into the fourth quarter St. Augustine looked to have the game in hand being up by a score of 20-10. Holy Cross continued to fight, sophomore wide receiver Jalen Johnson would take a hand-off from quarterback John Wooton up the right sideline for a score from 14 yards out, cutting the St. Aug lead to 3.
A botched exchange between quarterback and running back a few drives later for the Purple Knights would give Holy Cross great starting field position deep in St. Augustine territory. Jaden Handy would score what looked to be the go ahead touch down, but it was negated by a block in the back penalty. On the next play Jalen Johnson would take a receiver screen in for six. Nolan Heitmeier would kick the extra point to give Holy Cross the lead 24-20.
With just over a minute left to play the Purple Knights knew they needed the end zone to win the game. Quarterback Tre Woodson was never allowed time in the pocket and was forced to make plays with his feet. Finally, with 44 seconds left in the game and on 4th and medium the Purple Knights had no choice but to go for it. The Tigers came up with a stop from senior cornerback Dru Stephens. He broke up the pass to cause the turnover on downs and the completion of the Holy Cross comeback against St. Augustine.
