Bishops clinch victory over Manning after roaring back in final minutes
Improbable? Yes.
Impossible? No.
In a game that will surely go down as part legend and part lore in Bishop England High School football history, the Battling Bishops football team lived up to its nickname with a 45-36 victory over Manning Friday night.
The Bishops trailed 36-26 with less than two minutes remaining in the game but posted a rally for the ages in a Region 7-AAA game played at Cantey Stadium.
“This probably ranks right up there with the state championships,” said coach John Cantey, who probably aged a little after his team upped its record to 6-2, including 3-0 in league play. “I’ve never seen a game like this, how all the little details worked out. It was crazy how things worked out in the last three minutes.”
The Bishops were down but not out as Manning led 36-26 with less than three minutes left in the contest. That’s when the Bishops showed their mettle.
Quarterback Leo Albano completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Dengler to cut the lead to 36-32 with 1:40 left in the game. The PAT was no good.
The Bishops held the Monarchs on the ensuing possession, and Albano worked some magic. He scrambled and heaved a pass that traveled approximately 50 yards, and the ball sailed past the outstretched fingertips of a Manning defender and into the hands of Will Bastian for a 44-yard touchdown with 45 seconds left in the game that gave the Bishops a 38-36 lead as the conversion once again failed.
The Bishops added an exclamation point as Daniel Hollister recovered a fumble on the ensuing drive and returned it eight yards to close out the scoring.
It was a wild game with many momentum swings. The Bishops led 13-7 at halftime, but Manning scored on three consecutive possessions to take a 28-13 lead after three quarters. The fourth quarter was just as furious as the Bishops outscored the Monarchs 25-8 in the final 12 minutes.
The TD pass to Bastian was Albano’s 11th of the season and the one that will last a long time in the memory bank of Bishop fans.
“That pass was incredible,” Cantey said. “That ball had to travel more than 50 yards in the air. It’s great to see Will make such a big play. He didn’t play football until last year, and he’s become a leader. He’s going to play baseball at The Citadel, so he knows about leadership.”
Albano accounted for five touchdowns. He rushed 24 times for 175 yards and scored on runs of 24, 36 and 1 yards. He completed 20 of 29 passes for a season-high 214 yards. He threw a pair of TD passes. He now has 2,243 yards in total offense.
The Bishops, who were 5-0 at home this fall, travel to Timberland this weekend in a game that will decide the region championship. Timberland is 3-0 in league play.
Timberland has a 13-1 lead in the series against the Bishops. The Bishops’ only victory against the Wolves was a 17-3 decision in 2011, the same year the Bishops won their first state title. They repeated as champs the following season.