American Heritage senior kicker Kade Bailey booted a 40-yard field goal with four seconds left to cap an improbable comeback as the Patriots rallied from a 28-0 third quarter deficit to defeat St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) 31-28 in a battle of nationally ranked teams late Friday night at St. Thomas Aquinas High School.
The winning kick was set up when Hawks punter Jack Rando fielded a short-hop snap and kicked the ball into the back of one of his own players, and Patriots’ senior linebacker Jordan Rosinque recovered on the Hawks’ 30 with 55 seconds remaining.
“It was an ugly win, but our guys just kept playing,” said American Heritage coach Mike Smith by phone after his team scored its 31 unanswered points at the Broward County National Showcase game televised on ESPN.
“We always talk about next-play mentality. Don’t worry about the scoreboard. They believe in the process, and they believe in one another,” Smith added. “We kind of went a little tempo and everybody settled down. The defense played hard the whole night and really kept us in the game.”
The defending state champion and No. 9 nationally ranked Patriots got solid performances from five-star QB and Texas commit Dia Bell, junior running back Jonathan Bueno and senior wide receiver Jamar Denson in the game that was delayed 90 minutes due to weather.
Denson hauled in a 31-yarder from Bell to pull American Heritage to within 28-21 with 6:49 left in the game. The Troy commit hauled in 14 catches for 163 yards.
“You know the whole time it was all about just not laying down,” said Bueno, a transfer from Western who scored on touchdown runs of 18, 10 and 4 yards. The final scoring jaunt tied the game at 28 with 2:51 left. “When we went to the locker room being down 21, it’s just adversity, and we came out in the second half and we wanted it.”
American Heritage was outgained 191-70 yards in the first half, but turned the tables in the second half and ended the game scoring on its final five possessions.
“We weren’t going to just put our heads down and quit, so we kept fighting, and we all just came together and kept believing that we can do this, and we did,” Bueno added. “It was an amazing team win and I couldn’t be prouder of us.”
Three-time Philadelphia state champion St. Joseph’s, ranked No. 5 in the nation, seized a 21-0 halftime lead and extended the margin to 28-0 midway through the third quarter as three-star junior quarterback Charlie Foulke IV scored the second of his two touchdowns. Additionally, Jaylen Jones added one rushing score and the Hawks’ Masiia Acrey picked up a blocked punt by Brendan Flanery and returned it for a touchdown in the first half.
From there, it was all American Heritage. The defense budgeted the Hawks to just 29 total yards of offense in the final quarter as the Patriots managed the comeback. Bell, playing the game without FSU commit Brandon Bennett, who was out with a hamstring injury, finished 19 of 34 for 225 yards and a TD.
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