Gutsy Call To Cap Fourth Quarter Comeback Sees Team Stars & Stripes NCAA D-III Select Team Win Seventh Annual Tazón de Estrellas In Mexico
Two Point Conversion Seals Dramatic 15-14 Victory Over CONADEIP All-Stars
Less than 24 hours after arriving in Mexico, Team Stars & Stripes ran a two-point play on the first day of practice, Matt McDaniels tossing a pass to fellow quarterback Brady Huber in the end zone.
On Saturday that same play won the seventh annual Tazón de Estrellas at the Margarita Astiazrán de Fimbres Stadium in Baja.
Trailing by 14 points, a fourth quarter comeback looked improbable for the Americans, though not impossible since forays into Mexican territory had proven threatening if not fruitful.
Team Stars & Stripes, still reeling from what appeared to be a costly turnover with the clock ticking down, rebounded when Huber (Illinois College) hit Josh Peach (Grove City College) and then George Vidas (Lake Forest College) for touchdowns on consecutive possessions to dramatically trail by only a point with 24 seconds to play.
The hosts expected another kick between the uprights to force overtime, but then head coach Don DeWaard (Central College) made a gutsy call to go for glory; the do or die two-point play that had worked on the CETYS University practice field on Monday.
It worked under the stress of a game on the line too.
McDaniels (US Merchant Marine Academy), whose only previous pass had fallen incomplete, swept right and threw the ball back across to a wide-open Huber in the end zone for the winning points.
The American defense still had to hold and limit CONADEIP to a potential game-winning field goal from 51 yards out, but like an earlier attempt, the ball fell well short of the goalposts off the boot of Luis Meza. Cue victory celebrations on the visiting sideline.
It might not have seemed possible, but there on the scoreboard glowed the final score the NCAA Division III select squad had worked for all week: Team Stars & Stripes 15 CONADEIP All-Stars 14.
Huber ended the day with 21 of 30 pass attempts completed for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns, with his chief targets Sanders (8-86), Peach (7-114-1) and Vidas (4-24-1). Linebacker Dylan Zerki (Kalamazoo College) led the defense with nine tackles, followed by cornerback Pat Clark (Lake Forest) and defensive back Quincy Marting (Washington University), who each posted eight. Clark also had a sack, while defensive end Brandon Stiers (Augustana College) had two and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
After a scoreless first quarter, Noman Contla had earned the hosts a 7-0 halftime lead with a 14-yard scoring pass to Carlos Olvera on third and goal from the US 14. He doubled the lead in the third quarter by finding Pedro Magallanes having broken a tackle on a Stars & Stripes blitz and having earlier made a crucial first down on fourth and three.
It just didn’t seem to be the Americans’ day, but then the momentum shifted slightly when first a Meza field goal was blocked and then one fell short from 47 yards away.
Brady went to work from his own 35, finding Octavius Sanders (Kalamazoo College) for a 17-yard gain and Pat Cutillo (Susquehanna University) for 27 more on a critical third down. On the next play, a corner route led Peach into the end zone and Huber hit him from 16 yards out, giving Team Stars & Stripes hope.
When the final drive of the game, inside the two-minute warning, started at the US 13, a comeback seemed unlikely, but Huber had other ideas. Five consecutive receptions, shared between Vidas, Peach and Sanders allowed EJ Edinburgh (Cal Lutheran University) and Huber to run the ball to within three yards of paydirt.
Huber was flushed from the pocket on the crucial play, but retained his composure as he identified Vidas as his prime target in the end zone for a touchdown that capped a thrilling 9-play, 87-yard drive. 14-13 to the hosts, read the scoreboard.
Then, following a Team Stars & Stripes time out and the decision to go for it all came the rehearsed and perfectly executed two-point conversion, the McDaniels to Brady pass that capped a thrilling victory.
Team Stars & Stripes now lead the Tazón de Estrellas series 4-3.
The Tazón de Estrellas is the focal point for the Global Football Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit initiative, which assists athletes in meeting the expenses associated with traveling overseas to realize their dreams of competing against other American football enthusiasts and experiencing different cultures. The foundation allows potential benefactors to make charitable donations to offset costs that might otherwise prevent the student athletes from undertaking the trip of a lifetime.
About Global Football
Since 1996 Global Football has provided 14,000 amateur football players, coaches, families and fans from 350 schools the opportunity to travel and compete internationally with similar people of differing cultures. During that time they have produced games and tours in 23 countries on 6 continents, including the 2012 and 2014 GIFT events staged in Ireland alongside the NCAA college football games. Through these games, clinics and tours the people involved experience and learn about unique lands, fascinating people, and the sports environment in different parts of the world.