Monday, Devember 8, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Holy Cross' Elijah Phillips (left) celebrating his touchdown catch and run, the only score of the game, as the Lancers won the Non-Public Group 2 title with a 7-0 win over Hudson Cath.

NEW BRUNSWICK – Heading into Sunday’s Non-Public Group 2 state sectional final against South Jersey power Holy Cross, the Hudson Catholic defense knew that job No. 1 was to stop the run. They did that better than even the Hawks’ coaching staff could have expected, so much so that the game was scoreless into the fourth quarter when Holy Cross threw a huge curve that not only caught the Hawks’ defense off guard but changed the entire complexion of a game that was predicated on field position.

Holy Cross quarterback Austin Stein only completed one pass in the entire game but that was all he needed. Elijah Phillips took a screen pass and went 39 yards for the game’s only touchdown as top-seeded Holy Cross ended Hudson Catholic’s bid for its first state title by handing it a 7-0 defeat at Rutgers University.

Two trends were established just minutes into the game: Both teams were going to try and win the game in the trenches, and the opposing defenses were not going to let that happen. Neither team got anything going offensively until Holy Cross started moving the ball midway through the second quarter.

Hudson Catholic's Jason Hendricks outgained Holy Cross all by himself, 174-112.

The Lancers had a third-and-5 from the Hudson Catholic 24, but did not get any closer. Damien Humphrey dropped Dan Dash for a loss on a sweep to make it fourth-and-long. Chase Whetstone followed with a big tackle on Dash to give Hudson Catholic the ball back.

With 1:29 left in the first half, it looked like Hudson Catholic would just run out the clock and head into the locker room scoreless. But instead, the Hawks marched down the field into the Lancers’ red zone. That was mostly on the shoulder of do-everything senior tailback Jason Hendricks. But the big play came on the only pass completion by either team in the first half. Brian Eatman made a leaping grab to haul in a pass from quarterback Steven Soto down to the Holy Cross 17.

The Hawks were in line to take the lead, but a 20-yard field goal was missed as time expired and the game remained deadlocked heading into halftime.

Hudson Catholic had the wind at its back and kept the pressure on in the third quarter. Three plays into the second half, Wilfredo Bustillo recovered a fumble to give the Hawks great field position at the Holy Cross 38-yard line.

Holy Cross' defense bent but didn't break, handing out some big hits along the way.

Hendricks continued to churn out small chunks of yardage. His second effort on a third-and-one for a two-yard gain gave Hudson Catholic a first-and-goal at the Lancers’ two-yard line. However, they were called for a false start on first down and were forced to go for it on fourth-and-goal at the 1. They were unable to crack the plane of the goal line as Hendricks was stood up at the one-foot line by Holy Cross linebacker Joe Wohceichowski for a turnover on downs.

“We had a bunch of opportunities and that was the one we needed to punch in,” said Hudson Catholic head coach Rob Stern. “Down on the goal line, we felt like we were going in. But we didn’t pay attention to detail with the false start penalty and they made a great goal-line stand.”

The Lancers were not out of danger by any means and it was only a heady play by Stein that kept the game scoreless. On a third-and-nine from Holy Cross’ own two-yard line, the exchange from center was mishandled. Stein picked up the ball and was about to fall down in the end zone when he reached out the ball just beyond the goal line to avert taking a safety that would have given Hudson Catholic the lead.

Steven Soto and Hudson Catholic finished the season witha 9-3 record.

The Hawks forced a punt and still had good field position, but were unable to do anything with it. On the first play of the fourth quarter, they had a fourth-and-two from the Holy Cross 22. Hendricks was tackled at the line of scrimmage by Aaron Fant to give the ball back to the Lancers.

Although the Hawks forced a three-and-out, the field position was about to swing in the direction of Holy Cross. Phillips uncorked a 56-yard punt down to the Hudson Catholic 17.

Holy Cross got the ball back after forcing a punt and two plays later grabbed the lead on the most unlikely of plays considering the circumstances of the game. Stein had only even attempted one pass to that point, but on a second-and-seven, the Holy Cross coaching staff took a chance and it paid off in a huge way.

Stein threw a screen pass out to his right to Phillips. He followed his blockers and nothing stood in his way. He outraced the secondary to the end zone with 7:18 to play and Rob Schulze added the extra-point to put Holy Cross ahead 7-0.

“That’s the beauty of football, you have to be ready when your number is called,” said Phillips. “When they called the play, I was excited and said ‘let’s go!’. We went from a team that threw it (35-40) times a game last year to one that threw the ball (35-40) times this entire season. I just saw my blockers in front of me and ran as fast as I could. I kept saying to myself as I ran down the field ‘don’t get caught, don’t get caught’.”

Brian Eatman pulled down a pass that got HC in position for a field goal try late in the first half.

The Hawks had one last chance and took the ensuing drive into Lancer territory on another fantastic catch by Eatman. Hendricks bulled his way for a four-yard run on a fourth-and-three to keep the drive going. But it eventually stalled at the Holy Cross 33 when a Soto fourth-down pass fell incomplete and Holy Cross ran out the clock to win their seventh state title and deny Hudson Catholic its first.

“It’s been a crazy season, but it’s a nice way to finish it out,” added Phillips. “To go through all hard work from pre-season until now and win a state championship makes it all worth it.”

Phillips was the star for Holy Cross with the game’s only touchdown, the big punt to set it up, and 12 tackles. Aaron Fant led all played with 15 tackles and Dan Dash added 61 yards rushing.

Hendricks was the best player on the field both offensively and defensively for Hudson Catholic (9-3), which outgained Holy Cross 223-112 yards of total offense. He rushed a whopping 36 times for 174 yards. The senior also had 11 tackles, three of them for loss, on defense.

The loss is one that will sit with both the players and the coaching staff for some time. But it is also a building block for a program that is steadily on the rise and turning into a power in both Hudson County and now on a statewide-level.

“Someone has to lay the foundation to build a house and our seniors have laid out that foundation,” added Stern. “You have to give Holy Cross credit because they made some big plays at big times. Our defense played superb, we just had a break down on one play. Our kids are real upset right now, but this is a great opportunity and we have nothing to hang our heads about. It was a hard-fought game, they just executed a little bit better than we did. If we scored just eight points today, it would have been a whole different story. But it didn’t happen and that’s the way it goes.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.