AKRON, Ohio — By the end of the third quarter Friday night at Archbishop Hoban’s Dowed Field, the hosts could feel their advantage slipping away.
They gave up the lead and had a promising drive undone by critical penalties. Walsh Jesuit rolled in for their football rivalry game with an undefeated record and the No. 1 ranking in this week’s cleveland.com Top 25.
Hoban needed one good drive and got it.
Junior standout Brayton Feister, playing running back and linebacker, exploded down the sideline in the final minute of the fourth quarter. One play later, he muscled into the end zone for the winning score in the Knights’ 19-14 victory.
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“We’re made for these kind of moments,” said Feister, who finished with 125 yards on 15 carries and both of No. 5 Hoban’s touchdowns. “Everybody here is built like a diamond under pressure. They’re not going to break.”
Not even on Hoban’s previous drive.
The Knights trailed 14-10 entering the fourth quarter and reached the 6-yard line midway through it. A high snap forced quarterback Nick Kinsey to pounce on it 18 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Hoban (5-1) settled for a 39-yard field goal by Jeremy Hammel.
Walsh (5-1) moved the chains for a first down on its following possession but had to punt the football back to Hoban, which got the ball at its own 23-yard line with 2:44 left on the clock.
The Knights scored after seven plays and with just 38 seconds left on the clock.
They also didn’t commit a penalty in that final series after committing eight of them, including four in the third quarter, at the worst times.
“Normally, we’d have a lot of heads down,” Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell said. “We’ve seen that over the years when we’re jumping offsides or someone’s doing something. We had a holding penalty, an illegal man downfield and everything was on a big play, and they didn’t bat an eye. That makes me proud of them that they weren’t pointing fingers.”
Instead, Walsh gave Hoban 5 yards on an encroachment call to start the winning drive. Trying to rally after Feister’s touchdown, the Warriors began at their own 1-yard line after fumbling the kickoff return out of bounds.
Walsh still had all three of its timeouts left and picked up two first downs to move near midfield. Coach Nick Alexander had one left, and he used it as Ace Brown sacked David Ternosky on what looked to be the final play. However, the officials gave Walsh one more play, which was batted down on a long pass toward the Hoban 30.
“Our guys did a good job and competed for 48 minutes,” Alexander said. “We knew we were going to come here and swing for 48, and that’s what we did.”
Marty Tobin led Walsh, which returns home next Friday to play host to Columbus Bishop Hartley, with 84 yards on 13 carries. He scored the Warriors’ go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter on a 43-yard run. Ternosky completed 10 of 20 passes for 134 yards and found Milan Parris five times for 80 yards, but Alexander lamented a couple of costly turnovers.
“That came back to haunt us,” he said. “We had a couple open drives. We tried the trick play in the first half, and that’s on me. We’ll put the guys in a better situation to be successful.”
Hoban junior Jaiden Daniels picked off both passes, one from Parris on a wide receiver reverse pass, and one in the third by Ternosky.
Daniels credited Feister for motivating him during the week.
“He pushed me every day,” Daniels said. “He just kept telling me, they doubted me, they told me I was too little. He just kept telling me, I’m going to make a game today.”
Feister, who split carries in the backfield with Jance Henry (78 yards on 21 carries), expects to see Walsh again.
“It happens every year,” Feister said. “There’s a reason why we’re the top two teams in Ohio.”
They have met three of the last four OHSAA Division II, Region 5 finals. Hoban has won each of those playoff games, but had an 11-game winning streak in the rivalry snapped last year by the Warriors.
That score, coincidentally, was 19-14 with Walsh winning on a late score.
Tyrrell didn’t forget that as he complemented his players for their resolve in the postgame huddle. He also didn’t want them to look too much into it.
“I want them to be excited,” said Tyrrell, whose team is idle next week before playing Glenville on Oct. 10 in Akron. “It’s a rivalry, but it’s only Week 6. I purposely positioned a bye between this and Glenville because it’s too much of an emotional game. We’ve got to do a lot of self-scouting next week.”