SAN JOSE — No one was quite sure if St. Ignatius kicker Thomas McKeon’s 40-yard field goal was good.
Not McKeon.
But as McKeon’s kick tumbled end over end toward the west end zone’s uprights at San Jose City College, 60 minutes of neck-and-neck football came down to the right foot of the SI senior.
When it barely cleared the crossbar, SI had won the CCS Division II championship 24-21, capping off a stunning comeback from down a touchdown to vanquish its fierce San Francisco rival Sacred Heart Cathedral for the second time this season.
“Decades,” McKeon said of how long he felt the kick was in the air. “Right as I kicked it, I was like, it’s straight enough, but does it have the leg? And once it went through – it might have doinked, I don’t even know. But at that point I was running off the field. I was jumping.”
Just about the entire Outer Sunset jumped onto the field as SI (7-6) clinched what had been an improbable win just moments before. The Wildcats trailed 21-14 with about six minutes to play as SHC (6-7) drove down to SI’s 40-yard line and faced fourth-and-2.
The Irish lined up to go for it but false-started, setting them back at the 47. Then on fourth-and-7, Charlie Ball snatched a short pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, tying the game and bringing the momentum right back to SI’s sideline.
“I knew it was gonna come out to the one side on that slant, and I just kind of jumped it,” Ball said. “My sophomore linebacker hit a big block for me on the QB, and after that, it was just open field. And it was awesome.”
SI still had some work to do. SHC got the ball back with 5:39 left and advanced to SI’s 46-yard line, where the Irish faced fourth-and-7.
SHC’s punter attempted to run around the right side for a first down, and SI was ready, stopping him at the 45.
Then with 2:31 to play, the Wildcats worked the ball down to the 23-yard line with two seconds remaining. Lawson sent out McKeon for the decisive 40-yard attempt.
Had it all the way, right coach?
“If any coach says he has no doubt, he’s lying to you,” Lawson said. “You have doubt. But at the end of the day, I’ve seen Tom hit 46, 47 yards in practice. He’s made every kick but one this year. He’s an all-league kicker for a reason. He was great today punting the ball. We know what we had in him. I know he’s not gonna be scared of the moment. He understands the moment, and it’s not gonna be too big for him. He’s gonna have fun with it.”
Check back for updates to this story.
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