Braves rally to draw even with Saints

The Bawating Braves turned one of the strangest plays into a shocking come from behind tie with the St. Basil Saints on Friday night.

Trailing 14-0 late in the third quarter, Bawating rebounded to secure a 14-14 tie with the Saints in high school football senior division action at Rocky DiPietro Field.

With six seconds remaining in the game, the St. Basil Saints, leading 14-7, elected to punt the ball away on fourth down instead of trying to scramble to run out the clock. Matt Gauthier fielded the punt at his own 45-yard line as time expired.

As the scoreboard alarm sounded signalling that time had expired, the players seemed to stop dead in their tracks except for Gauthier. With no whistle having been blown by the officials, Gauthier speeded down the right sideline 65 yards into the end zone. Kyle Gauthier's convert sealed the tie.

Brad Radbourne started the Braves rally with a 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

St. Basil built their early lead as Jeff Ianni, who led the Saints offense with 65 rushing yards on 12 carries, scampered 20 yards for a touchdown. After a blocked convert, kicker Frank Caputo later regained the point off a missed 34-yard field goal attempt. Vince Avati rounded out the St. Basil scoring with an 18-yard reception from quarterback Mike Jurich.

Justin Carter led the St. Basil defense with eight tackles and a sack while Nick Vorlicek added 6.5 tackles. Jurich, Ianni and Mike Marotta all made interceptions.

For Bawating, Joe Oldham led the rushers with 72 yards on 15 carries while Radbourne added 67 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Andrew Hatten completed two passes to Kyle Gauthier for 66 yards. Defensively, Matt Gauthier recorded seven tackles while Oldham added five.

In junior action on Friday afternoon, St. Basil defeated Bawating 16-0. Carlo Sirelli and Kyle Hoffman scored touchdowns for the Saints. Nick Giordano added a field goal.

Week two play concludes on Saturday as Korah tackles Sir James Dunn. Senior action begins at 1 p.m. at Rocky DiPietro Field while the juniors battle at 10 a.m. at the Sir James Dunn field.