Late Del City fumble gives Bishop McGuinness the win
Del Citylooked poisedto add another item to Bishop McGuinness’ season list of woes.
Down 28-21 with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter, Del City took over on the McGuinness 48 yard line and methodically went down the field, moving 44 yards in six plays to find themselves first- andgoal from the 4 with 29 seconds left.
Standing on the sideline, McGuinness head coach Justin Jones was just hoping his team could respond once more.
Del City running back Tyus Messner took the handoff and was met at the goal line by Brandon Jacobs and Josh McDaniel. The combo tackle popped the ball loose, and McGuinness recovered in the end zone.
Ball game. Bishop McGuinness beat Del City 28-21 inthe opening round
of the Class 5A playoffs.
“This time of year is about surviving and advancing,” Jones said. “As long as they continue to respond to challenges, I think we are a really good football team.”
The challenges for McGuinness are well-documented this year. The Irish lost starting offensive tackle and Georgia commit Owen Condon early in the season, as well as suffering a slew of other injuries throughout the year.
But last week was the biggest test of all as sophomore running back Dominic Richardson, who had rushed for well over 2,000 yards on the season, was lost with a leg injury.
“Losing the best player in the state is a shock and a hard thing to recover from,” Jones said. “I told the guys after that I haven’t been more proud than I am right now with the way they responded.”
Filling in for McGuinness at running back, fellow sophomore Tyler Travis had a huge game,
rushing for 195 yards on 25 carries, while also catching the game’s opening touchdown on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Brennan Mullins.
“i look up to (Dominic) so much,” Travis said. “I told him I’d go out there and that I wouldn’t let him down.”
For Del City, the Eagles were led by junior receiver Jeff Foreman, who finished the game with seven catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Del City quarterback Quinlan Ganther threw for 244 yards.
After kneeling for a prayer in the end zone where the defense recovered the fumble, Mullins stood to celebrate with his teammates. He said while McGuinness did have a few unfortunate breaks this year, he feels like its given the team an edge now in the playoffs.
“Every year in the playoffs is special for our team,” Mullins said. “We seem to always have a lucky moment or an exciting finish.
“But we just have to come out and execute and just come out and play every play like it’s our last.”