St. Edward 28, St. Francis 26 (OT)

One play stood between St. Edward and its first victory since Oct. 8, 2004.

St. Francis running back Stan Bobowski had just scored on a 2-yard run in overtime to pull visiting St. Francis within 28-26.

Forced to attempt the 2-point conversion to forge a tie, the Spartans pitched the ball left to running back Mark Kachmer. But the junior was met at the 2-yard line by four Green Wave defenders, led by Moises Quiroga and Nevin Bens, and stopped short of the goal line.

With that tackle three years of frustration evaporated into the muggy autumn night. The entire student section huddled around Greg True Field -- extra large on St. Edward's homecoming night -- stormed the field to celebrate the end of the school's record 26-game losing streak.

Grown men wept. Players were lifted onto fans' shoulders. Everyone got hugged.

The streak was finally dead.

"I will never forget this day my whole life, especially on homecoming" said Green Wave quarterback Ryan Gilbert. "This is just amazing. It's the best feeling. We waited too long for this."

Gilbert was a big reason St. Edward (1-6, 1-4 Suburban Catholic) was able to overcome its 14-6 halftime deficit. He completed a pass to Josh Scholly on fourth down to keep a third-quarter drive alive. Seven plays later he launched a perfect pass to Cory Diaz in the corner of the end zone to pull the Wave within 14-12 with 28 seconds left in the third period.

Gilbert then tied the game with a 2-point bootleg keeper.

But the Spartans (2-5, 1-4) roared back on the next play when junior Ryan O'Donnell returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown.

"We were putting in all the effort we could," O'Donnell said. "It was just great to be in one of these great high school games. It was a fun game, but it's a very, very tough loss. We were all working so hard out there, giving it our hearts."

The Spartans missed the extra-point kick wide to the right, however, leaving the score 20-14.

Two possessions later St. Edward drove 75 yards in 11 plays, a march capped by a great adjustment from Scholly, who reached back to snare an underthrown ball from Gilbert for a 20-yard touchdown with 4:21 remaining in regulation time.

However, St. Edward had its extra point try blocked for the second time on the night, leaving the score knotted 20-20.

St. Edward got the ball first in overtime and scored on Quiroga's 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal. But the bigger play came next.

Due to his teams' kicking difficulties, Green Wave coach Mike Rolando elected to fake the kick in favor of a rollout option. Gilbert, the holder, placed the ball down, rolled right, pumped once, then threw an accurate strike on the run to Quiroga to give St. Edward its first lead at 28-20.

"We'd had enough trouble with those today," Rolando said of the failed extra points. "They were coming so aggressively, jumping right over our center. So we figured (the pass) had to be open.

"This win is about Matt Ardiente, Nevin Bens, Ryan Gilbert -- our seniors. It's about getting that monkey off their backs to show everybody how good they really are."

St. Francis could only tip its collective hat.

"I'm very happy for them snapping their streak," St. Francis coach Greg Purnell said. "I feel very bad for our kids. They played better than us, they tackled better, they blocked better. They deserved to win."