Sept. 23, 2006

Box Score

CANTON, NY -- Brett Young caught a six-yard tochdown pass from Matt Bezio with 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to cap a 15-play, 88-yard drive that lifted St. Lawrence to a stunning 21-20 victory over Johns Hopkins at Leckonby Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays fall to 1-2 with the loss, while the Saints improve to 2-1 with the victory.

A nine-yard touchdown run by junior Phil Roberts and a successful two-point conversion run by senior quarterback Shane Kibbe polished off an eight-play, 54-yard drive that had given the Blue Jays their first lead of the game at 20-14 with just 3:41 remaining. The touchdown was Roberts' second of the day.

Miscommunication on the ensuing kickoff left the Saints with the ball on their own 12-yard line with just over three minutes remaining and Bezio orchestrated a masterpiece in the two-minute offense.

St. Lawrence converted three third-downs with Bezio's 18-yard scramble on third-and-five from his own 32 moving the ball out to midfield. He later connected with Troy Lsaaial for 10 yards on a fourth-and-five from the Blue Jay 45 and hit freshman Connor Hackett for 30 yards on a beautiful pass while rolling to his left to set the Saints up at the Blue Jay five-yard line. Two rushing plays resulted in a loss of one yard before Bezio rolled to his right and floated the game-winning pass to Young, who was open in the back corner of the end zone.

A late-game rally appeared to be the last thing the Saints would need as Mike O'Donnell's 35-yard touchdown reception in the final minute of the second quarter gave the Saints a 7-0 lead and he added a 79-yard touchdown reception from Bezio midway through the third quarter to make it 14-0.

The Blue Jays began their rally late in the third quarter behind the running of Roberts, who ended the game with a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns. His 19-yard touchown run came one play after the Blue Jay defense came up with a fumble recovery deep in Saints' territory late in the third quarter. The extra point was no good, a point that would come back to haunt JHU later in the game.

After struggling to find consistency for nearly 45 minutes, Roberts' run sparked the Blue Jay offense as Kibbe quickly moved the Blue Jays 56 yards on 11 plays on their next possession and capped the drive with a two-yard run up the middle to slice the defcit to 14-12. Kibbe's pass on the two-point attempt short-hopped senior Evan Earnest and the Saints led 14-12.

A Chris Chauvin interception of Bezio's pass on third-and-six gave the Blue Jays possession at their own 44 and Roberts acounted for 32 rushing yards on the 56-yard drive that he capped with the nine-yard run. That set the stage for Bezio's late-game heroics.