St. John the Baptist falls short in CHSFL loss to Holy Cross
Quarterback Maurice Scott of St. John the Baptist runs downfield during a CHSFL AA football game against Holy Cross on Sunday in Cambria Heights. Credit: Dawn McCormick
St. John the Baptist came out of halftime looking dominant and seemingly took control of the game after going ahead by three scores.
With under two minutes remaining, the Cougars' lead had dissipated, and they found themselves in possession of the ball needing a touchdown to win the game.
However, Denym Haughton intercepted a pass heading for the end zone from St. John the Baptist quarterback Maurice Scott with under 20 seconds remaining to give Holy Cross a 32-28 win in a CHSFL matchup at Campus Magnet High School on Sunday afternoon.
“I thought I could fit the ball, but the safety came right over and picked it,” Scott said. “I thought I had a bit more time, but the line collapsed quicker than I expected.”
Scott finished with191 yards and a touchdown and ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cougars forced a fumble on the first play of the second half and Aidan McLoughlin made the recovery. Scott found Jordan Redding on a short third-down pass that Redding took 29 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to put the Cougars ahead 21-0.
“Maybe we got a bit overconfident and we can learn from that,” linebacker Christopher Trinca said. “No matter what point in the game, no matter the score, you have to stay ready.”
Holy Cross (2-1) followed with 24 unanswered points, all in the third quarter, starting with Madden Martinez’s 1-yard sneak for a touchdown. After Haughton caught an interception on the first play of the Cougars’ next drive, Martinez launched a deep ball to Caleb Rivera for a 45-yard touchdown.
Martinez later threw a screen pass to running back Antoine Williams and he took it 76 yards for a touchdown. The Knights converted two-point conversions on each drive to take a 24-21 lead.
Scott capped off a three-play drive by bursting through the gap and eluding defenders for a 35-yard touchdown run to grab a 28-24 lead for the Cougars (2-2).
“That moment gave us a confidence boost,” Scott said. “It was huge to stop their momentum and take back the lead, but we still needed to make some stops.”
On the first play of the next drive for Holy Cross, Martinez connected with Kenneth Brassfield-Dailey deep down the middle of the field for a 67-yard touchdown. Martinez tossed a pass to Ricardo Franco for the two-point conversion to put Holy Cross ahead 32-28. The pass was the third two-point connection of the game for the pair.
“Football is a momentum game and you have to be mentally tough,” St. John the Baptist coach Philip Alba said.” We were shutting them down in the first half, so there are some good things to take away. “
Scott had a 1-yard rushing score to open the scoring in the first quarter. Kalen Percer-Hogue turned a short catch into a 42-yard gain to set up Jahmad Jackson’s 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and put the Cougars ahead 14-0. Percer-Hogue had 67 rushing yards and 62 receiving yards.
“Kalen Percer showed today to be a really hard runner,” Alba said. “This is really his first full week back from injury and he’s going to be great as the season rolls along.”
St. John the Baptist capped off a strong defensive first half as McLoughlin broke up a third-down pass in the red zone. The Cougars made a tackle short of the first down marker on fourth down to end the half and keep Holy Cross scoreless.
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
