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With 49 seconds to play, St. Paul/Goodwin Tech gathered on the sideline, waiting for the coaching staff to deliver the instructions.
It was going to be one of two things: attempt to tie the game by kicking the extra point and head for overtime, or, go for the glory right then and there with a 2-point conversion.
Senior wideout Byron Jones got the answer he was hoping for.
“Oh man, I was pumped when they told us we were going for two,” Jones said. “I thought that we were going to get it.”
With the New Canaan fans chanting, pleading and keeping their finger’s crossed for their boys to come up with a stop, St. Paul quarterback Tanner Bachand laid the ball out in the air for Jones.
With a dive, the senior had what appeared to be the biggest reception of his young football life. For a moment, the Falcons believed they had just pulled out the biggest win in the program’s history.
But with one simple wave of the arms by the official, that all changed. The pass was ruled incomplete.
“I had it in my hands,” Jones said. “I guess the tip of the ball must have scrapped the turf. I thought I had it, but the ref said it was incomplete.”
A recovered onside kick and a kneel down by New Canaan and it was over. The Falcons magical season came to a close with a hard fought, yet heartbreaking 14-13 loss in the Class MM semifinals.
“We gave it our all,” St. Paul coach Jude Kelly said. “We gave it everything we had.”
The game played out in typical St. Paul fashion. The Falcons were knocked down early but, like they had all season long, they picked themselves up, refusing to stay down.
Over the first two-plus minutes of the game, it appeared that it would be a long night for St. Paul. The return man muffed the opening kickoff inside the 10, bobbled it at the five, was forced to retreat a step into his own end zone before going down in the shadows of the goal line.
The Falcons went three-and-out on that opening possession.
New Canaan didn’t have that same problem. In fact, the Rams were on the board without the offense ever stepping foot on the field.
Kevin Macari fielded Devin Zeller’s punt, weaved his way through two Falcons, picked up a block and broke into stride down the sideline. Macari went 49-yards into the end zone.
Just 2 minutes 6 seconds in, the three-time defending Class MM state champions had a 7-0 advantage.
Things didn’t go much better for St. Paul on its second possession. A dropped ball forced the Falcons into their second consecutive three-and-out.
New Canaan marched down the field, deep into St. Paul territory and seemingly poised to extend the lead. But somehow, the St. Paul defense stiffened. On a fourth down at the 20, the Falcons came up with a stop they desperately needed.
The play awoke the St. Paul defense. It was stellar from there on out.
The Rams entered the game averaging nearly 400 yards of total offense per game. St. Paul held it to just 222 Tuesday night.
After the stop, not only the Falcons thought that they could indeed play with mighty-New Canaan, but the Rams felt it as well.
A big hit at the goal line in the opening moments of the second quarter to jar the ball loose from St. Paul quarterback Tanner Bachand was all that stood in the way from the game being tied at seven heading into the half.
“We were confident,” Kelly said. “We knew that if we played hard and played our way, that we would be OK. We knew what we can do. Overall, the kids played really hard and we were right there. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way in the end.”
A 6-yard pass to Cody Newton (7 catches, 110 yards) from Turner Baty extended the Ram lead to 14-0 early in the third.
Baty threw for 39 times in the game, completing 18 passes for 195 yards.
But there was no panic in St. Paul.
“We always feel that we’ll come back,” Jones added.
They nearly did.
A completion to Jones (4 catches, 75 yards) on the outside, a reception by Zeller over the middle and a 22-yard burst up the middle by Chris Bachand (19 carries, 139 yards) and the Falcons were on the cusp of cutting the Ram lead in half.
Bachand took it the remaining 2-yards to get St. Paul on the board.
It was just the start of a huge second half for the Falcon running back. Bachand carried the ball 11 times for 77 yards over the final 24 minutes. In one drive, Bachand nearly single-handedly marched St. Paul down the field as he picked up 50 yards on a series of carries to set up a fourth-and-inches from the New Canaan 1.
That drive ended in despair.
A toss sweep to the right side was juggled by Bachand. The Rams recovered the fumble on the 1 yard line with just over four minutes to play. It was the second time the Falcons turned the ball over at the goal line in the game.
But the defense held, giving St. Paul one more chance.
In three plays, the Falcons capitalized.
Jones made a spectacular catch over the middle, bouncing off New Canaan’s Austin Dowdle to stay on his feet in bring the ball inside the 10 with just over a minute to go. A sort run and a perfectly thrown slant from Tanner Bachand to Travis Thomas completed the drive.
With 49 ticks showing on the clock, St. Paul was just a point away from tying things up. The Falcons looked at it differently however. To them, they were just two points away from a spot in the state final.
“There was some discussion,” Kelly said. “To us, it made more sense to go for it there. We have a young [freshman] kicker that’s still working his way into things. A couple of years from now, we probably let him take that kick. But right now, we felt that it came down to experience.”
The Falcons were in a similar situation 11 games earlier. In their season-opener, late in the fourth quarter and down by one to Derby, St. Paul went for two. On that night, it got it. Unfortunately on Tuesday, the Falcons were the nose of the ball short.
But as much as it hurt to lose, that was OK with Kelly. To him, nothing was going to change his thoughts of his boys.
“I’m so proud. I’ve been proud of our kids all season long,” he said. “They’re just a super bunch of kids. They’re disappointed right now, but those kids are just a class act.”
By JOHNNY J. BURNHAM |
Athletics 
