Midway through the third quarter it appeared like the Westminster football team was dead. Down 14 points and running out of time, it did not look good for the Wildcats. But that’s nothing new, said quarterback Rankin Woley.
“Throughout the playoffs we’ve been behind,” said the Westminster quarterback. “We never give up, we never quit.”
Westminster got a 3-yard touchdown run from tailback Isaiah Malcome on its first possession in overtime and came up with a fumble recovery on defense as the Wildcats stunned No. 2 Blessed Trinity 38-31 in the Class AAA championship game at the Georgia Dome.
The unranked Wildcats (11-4) twice trailed by 14 points in the second half, but cut the lead to 31-24 when Woley threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Joe Egan with 3:52 left.
Westminster recovered the ensuing onside kick, which bounced off a Blessed Trinity player on the front line and was missed by a pair of Titans and recovered by Watson Jackson at the 21. Malcome ran for a 21-yard touchdown on the next play to tie the game.
Westminster scored on its third play of overtime, with Malcome squeezing in from the 3. Malcome finished with 125 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns.
“We knew we had to drive 15 yards (in overtime) and punch it in and we knew if we got a stop we were going to win the game,” Malcome said.
Blessed Trinity (13-1-1) appeared to be on its way to forcing a second overtime when the Titans picked up a first down at the 5. On the next play tailback Milton Shelton was diving toward the goal line and stretched the ball out in an attempt to score. But the ball came loose and Westminster’s Joe Egan recovered to end the game.
“Our guys haven’t quit all season and they didn’t quit tonight,” said Westminster coach Gerry Romberg, who brought home the school’s first football title since 1978.
It ruined an otherwise great night for Shelton, who rushed 37 times for 254 yards and one touchdown. Blessed Trinity quarterback Conor Davis completed 10 of 13 passes for 136 yards and rushed for two touchdowns.
Woley ran 15 times for 91 yards and one touchdown and completed 10 of 18 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown.
Westminster took a 6-0 lead on a pair of field goals from senior Blake Gillikin, a 32-yarder and a 53-yarder that was set up with a takeaway. Blessed Trinity completed a 19-yard pass to tight end J.D. Bertrand, but he had the ball taken away on an aggressive tackle by Westminster’s Harrison Jones.
Blessed Trinity cut the margin in half on a 29-yard field goal from Brooks Hosea, after a 47-yard completion from Davis to Matthew Higgins.
Higgins had a crucial 29-yard reception on the next possession to set up a touchdown that gave Blessed Trinity a 10-6 halftime lead. The catch put the Titans on the 2 and Shelton scored on the next play, taking a pitch the left and getting a key block from Colin Dore.
Westminster had a chance to score on its opening drive, reaching the 4 on a 30-yard pass from Rankin Woley to Joe Egan. But the Wildcats were stopped there and settled for a 21-yard field goal from Gillikin to cut the lead to 10-9 with 8:14 remaining.
Blessed Trinity answered with a touchdown to take a 17-9 lead. The big play was a 49-yard toss sweep by Garrett Dupuis, his first carry of the game. Dupuis scored two plays later on a 9-yard run.
The Titans appeared to have the game on ice when Davis scored on a 2-yard run to take a 24-9 lead. The touchdown was set up on a 43-yard run by Shelton, with Davis throwing the key block to spring him downfield. But Westminster responded by driving 84 yards and scoring on a 33-yard run by Woley, who threw a two-point conversion pass to Chase Williams that cut the lead to 24-17 with 9:55 remaining.
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