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Once the game was complete and the entire Beechwood football team – and a sizable percentage of the student body that attended Friday’s game – piled on top of each other to celebrate the last-second victory, the stunned Holy Cross Indians slowly walked off the field.
Their almost-assured victory in regulation had collapsed into the overtime period. All the good work quarterback Markell Walker had accomplished in the previous 48 minutes had vanished in a 2-minute span. Their best-ever chance to beat the Tigers had evaporated into the chilly air.
It was, to say the least, a brutal ending for Holy Cross.
“What else can you say?” Indians coach Bruce Kozerski said.
Nothing, really. Beechwood – and its senior running back Joe Colosimo, who had the best game of his career – said it all when place-kicker Joey Nussbaum’s extra point attempt sailed straight through the uprights to send the Tigers off with a 36-35 overtime victory at McNabb Stadium.
Brutal for the Tigers (2-1). But absolutely sweet for Beechwood (1-2).
“We kept swinging,” said Colosimo, whose career game included 226 rushing yards and two scores on 26 carries to go with two touchdown catches as well.
“That’s our team motto. We wanted to come out in round three of the season and get a win.”
It was sorely needed for Beechwood – which was hammered by Dixie Heights to open the year and then fell last week to Highlands. The possibility of an 0-3 start to the season was unacceptable to Colosimo.
“That doesn’t really happen around here,” he said. “That’s all we talked about all week. We can’t be content no matter how good the competition we played.”
A Cameron Vocke 50-yard punt return late in the first half gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead heading into halftime, but midway through the fourth quarter, after a Colosimo fumble, a two-yard touchdown by Holy Cross senior running back Brayson Smith gave the Indians a 29-22 advantage.
Much of the credit for their resurgence Friday was thanks to Walker – who rushed 28 times for 203 yards and two scores while completing 8 of 16 passes for 168 yards and two more touchdowns. Although Walker briefly fell to the turf with leg cramps in the fourth quarter, he, at times, single-handedly kept his team in the game.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Kozerski said. “I think they would agree.”
But Holy Cross couldn’t finish the game. After Beechwood quarterback Matt Rigdon threw an interception with 2:24 to play, the Indians seemed ready to accept the program’s first victory against the Tigers. Except Beechwood forced a fumble two plays later from Indians running back Andy Roenker and recovered the ball on the Holy Cross 10-yard line. Then, on fourth and goal from the 10, Rigdon found Colosimo in the corner of the end zone for the game-tying score.
“Well, we gave them the ball, too,” Tigers coach Noel Rash said. “Turnovers are going to cost us down the road. But obviously that one was huge. They had a chance to win the game.”
One play into overtime, Walker struck again, scrambling for the 10-yard touchdown, but senior Jordan Norris missed the extra point, leaving an opening for Beechwood.
“It’s not so much heartbreaking when you give them the game,” Kozerski said. “We have to learn from this. We’re a darn good football team, but we can’t make the mistakes that we made. We had the game won. It happens.”
Then – who else? – Colosimo, on the second play of the Tigers possession, went off left tackle for the 3-yard score, and Nussbaum sealed the game with his extra point, leading to the massive pileup at mid-field.
“It’s great for the kids to be in a game like this,” Rash said. “That’s the thing. And it’s great for the coaching staff, having to make decisions in a short amount of time with the game on the line. Everybody will grow from this.
“Our guys just have to get better and fix the mistakes. The issue is we turn the ball over and we don’t tackle. We did the same thing tonight. We were fortunate to come out with a win. But we still have a lot of work to do.”
HOLY CROSS 0-7-12-10-6—35
at BEECHWOOD 7-7-8-7-7—36
B—J. Colosimo 11 run (Nussbaum kick)
HC—Walker 19 run (Norris kick)
B—Vocke 50 punt return (Nussbaum kick)
HC—Ziegler 43 pass from Walker (kick blocked)
HC—Roenker 61 pass from Walker (kick failed)
B—J. Colosimo 6 pass from Rigdon (J. Colosimo run)
HC—Norris FG 27
HC—Smith 2 run (Norris kick)
B—J. Colosimo 10 pass from Rigdon (Nussbaum kick)
B—J. Colosimo 3 run (Nussbaum kick)
RECORDS: Beechwood 1-2, Holy Cross 2-1.
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