ConVal football comes back to beat Hollis Brookline

HOLLIS – The ConVal High School football team needed someone to step up.

Down all three of its starters in the offensive backfield, including quarterback Dan Spezzaferri, the Cougars were in danger of seeing its four-game winning streak come to an end against Hollis Brookline.

But with sophomore backup Keenan Wilson leading the way, ConVal came together and rallied for a 36-32 victory over the Cavaliers in Division II action on Saturday.

Wilson connected with Isaac Bacon for a 57-yard touchdown with three minutes left in the game to give the Cougars (5-1) the lead for good, and the defense came up with a couple of stops in the second half to keep HB (4-2) from pulling away.

“I’ve never been prouder of a group of young men in my life,” ConVal coach Paul Landau said. “The amount of character that they showed speaks volumes about who they are and who we are as a program.

“Our quarterback and top two running backs were knocked out in the first half. I don’t have enough words to describe the effort. We talked at halftime about how they made a mistake. (HB) poked a beast that they didn’t understand.”

Wilson threw for 170 yards on 12 of 17 passing, including two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he rushed for another 25 yards and a touchdown that gave ConVal a 29-26 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Bacon caught eight passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns while Liam Baldwin also had eight catches for 83 yards and a score.

“That kid was accurate and poised,” HB coach Chris Lones said of Wilson. “We felt like toward the end of the first half, after they had lost those three kids, we started to try to do a little too much. We were giddy, there’s blood in the water, let’s get them, and all of a sudden, we’re not covering our guys or being where we’re supposed to be.”

Joey Delaney led the Cavs (4-2) on offense, going 17 of 34 for 303 passing yards with three touchdowns and an interception on the last play of the first half.

Jack Byrne had two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, and finished with 107 total yards, while Matt Simco (six catches, 71 yards) and Derek Davidson (four, 55) each caught a touchdown pass.

Things did not look good for ConVal when Spezzaferri went down early in the second quarter.

After scrambling for a first down, the junior quarterback was held up in a pile and hit in the helmet as the whistle was blowing. He was down on the field for a while before the trainers helped him to the sidelines, and he eventually left the field on a cart.

Already down running back Graham Parker, ConVal lost back Scott Stanley a few players later. None of the three returned.

Despite the injuries, ConVal led 21-18 at halftime after Wilson hit Bacon on a screen and the senior went 16 yards to the end zone in the final minute of the half.

HB went up 26-21 midway through the third when Delaney hit Davidson for a 9-yard touchdown pass, and then the two connected again for the conversion. The Cavs then picked off Wilson in their own end zone, but couldn’t take advantage of the turnover and punted the ball back to ConVal.

The Cougars followed with a 13-play, 56-yard drive, converting two fourth downs, and taking a 29-26 lead on Wilson’s 5-yard run with 7:16 remaining.

“It was a huge play and we had two guys who didn’t do their job,” Lones said. “They tried to overcompensate and do somebody else’s job. We didn’t slant when we were supposed to and ran across the line and chase somebody.”

The Cavs answered with a seven-play, 73-yard drive capped by Delaney’s 5-yard TD pass to Simco on fourth-and-goal to make 32-29 with 5:29 left. HB went for two, but Delaney’s pass to Davidson was incomplete.

ConVal’s offense looked like it might sputter at midfield on the next possession, but on second-and-12, Wilson found Bacon behind the defender and the senior receiver outraced everyone for a 57-yard score that put the Cougars up for good with three minutes left.

A touchback on the kickoff gave HB the ball at its own 20-yard line, but a holding call negated a first down on third-and-15, and the Cavs eventually had to punt from their 3. ConVal ate up some of the clock and Bacon’s coffin corner punt gave HB the ball on its own 2 with 42 seconds remaining.

The Cavs were able to move out to midfield, but time ran out as they were about to snap the ball from the ConVal 49.

“For Keenan, to come in as a sophomore, in his first real varsity action, it was unbelievable,” Landau said. “He threw two interceptions and it never rattled him. He just asked what he could do to get better. He kept going, threw the game-winning touchdown to Isaac. He had another one that put us in the lead running the ball. I don’t have enough words.”