Crusaders Win Over Tigers 19-18 at Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl
For White Plains football, Thursday’s Turkey Bowl signified a chance to salvage an otherwise lost season. Saddled with a one win regular season, the Tigers Thanksgiving Day matchup against Stepinac mattered, whether it was just an exhibition game or not.
A win for the Tigers would have made the Turkey taste a little better to an otherwise bitter season.
“It would have meant a lot,” starting quarterback Brandon Williams said, “We have a lot of new coaches on our staff and they haven’t been in this program so it would have meant a lot to them and a lot to me, too.”
The only problem is the Turkey Bowl meant plenty to the Crusaders, too. And although White Plains led for almost all the game, Stepinac was the team that eventually celebrated in postgame cheer with a dramatic 19-18 victory. One big defensive play and one well-orchestrated drive was just enough for the Crusaders to pull off the shocker to the dismay of the Tigers
After Crusaders’ Malcolm Major brought down a critical interception with less than three minutes left, Stepinac had new life. Major even said afterward if another pass was thrown his way, he was ready to pull down the turnover.
Once he made the clutch defensive play, the offense got to work.
At the two-minute mark and at midfield, Stepinac had the ball down 18-13 with one last chance to come back and take its first lead of the game. Although a pressure packed possession, the Crusaders never showed an indication of that.
With a balance of running and passing, Stepinac marched down the field and on the seventh play of the drive, finally broke through for a lead. Quarterback Daniel Hoffer, after buying time with his legs, found 5-7 wide out Chrystian Lopez on the near side of the end zone alone. Hoffer lofted the ball to his third option receiver on the play and as the senior secured it, White Plains’ effort was spoiled.
“We’re gonna win this game,” Hoffer said he told his team in the huddle on that final possession. “…We’re gonna win this game. We don’t care how we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it.”
“We just stayed composed, stay positive and that’s what we did,” Hoffer said. We won the game.”
Stepinac head coach Mike O’Donnell said his team practices the two minutes drill two-days a week. O’Donnell said his two minute drill offense has been effective all season long. For one last time, the Crusaders once again showed that.
What makes the win even more impressive was the fact Stepinac was trailing 18-0 early in the second half. Eventually, urgency set in and offense got going with plenty of help form running back Ryan Burnett.
The senior was the focal point of the offense, imposing his will with every carry. The rusher collected 156 yards on the ground, many coming in the second half
The workhorse might not have scored a touchdown, but he was still a valuable piece to the comeback. His teammates told him to keep running hard, and that’s exactly what he did.
“When I pick up the energy, it’s like everyone else picks it up,” Burnett said. “So I feel like a leader and I can make plays.”
His downhill running set up a touchdown pass from Hoffer to receiver Justin Thomas to cut the deficit to 18-7 and then again when Hoffer scored on a quarterback keeper to only trail by one possession in the fourth quarter.
In the first half, it was all White Plains. For a team that hadn’t played in an official game in more than a month prior to Thursday, the Tigers came out with momentum.
The White Plains defense provided the first points of the game after lineman Josh Renfroe fell on a fumbled ball in Stepinac’s end zone following a bad snap to put White Plains up 8-0 after a successful two point conversion. Then Williams ran in a 26 yard touchdown after it looked like the Crusaders defense had trapped in to go ahead 15-0 at the half.
“We came into this game angry and hungry so that’s how everything happened,” Williams said. “We came out fighting in the first half, we just couldn’t get things done in the second.”
But Williams also knew the Crusaders would come out with more fight in the second half and to his misfortune he was right. It didn’t make the loss any easier to swallow. White Plains, on their home turf and in front of a packed crowd, at the end of the day let a season defining win slip away.
“It’s just very difficult,” said head coach Skip Stevens after the game. “To go put up a performance like that and not come out on top is very, very tough.”
