Before a packed house Friday at Marist, the hosts and Brother Rice slugged it out before Andrew Walker ran in from the 1 to give Brother Rice a 34-31 overtime victory.
A 31-yard field goal by Tom O’Neill gave Marist a 31-28 lead after its first OT possession.
We talked about never giving up. Keep going ’till the final whistle,” Andrew Walker said. “We worked too hard to lose.”
Brother Rice led 14-7 at lead into halftime. But Marist scored three straight times to start the second half, starting with a 55-yard interception return by Ryan Meyer.
Meyer was a factor the entire second half, scoring on a 1-yard sneak, returning a punt 14 yards and hauling in a 26-yard pass to set up another score, making it 28-14 with 3 minutes, 53 seconds left in the third quarter
But the Crusaders struck back on touchdown runs by Andrew Walker (15) and Martez Walker (11) to tie it at 28-28 with 5:15 left. An interception by Jason Flagg in the end zone ended a late scoring threat by Marist.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Meyer said. “All we can do is build on it.”
It was the first meeting between the teams since 2007.
Player of the game:
Martez Walker, Brother Rice, 210 yards, 20 carries, 3 TDs.
Key performers:
Brother Rice — Andrew Walker, 80 yards, 21 carries, 2 TDs. Marist — Ryan Meyer, 5 catches, 123 yards; Ian Woodworth, 13-for-31, 182 yards passing.
