Cougars courageous

After trailing for three quarters, junior quarterback Jake McGee threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead Collegiate to a VIS Division I championship over visiting Flint Hill 14-7.

Collegiate (9-1) struggled with turnovers in the first half. An interception on second and goal, followed by a fair catch fumbled away after the Cougars forced a punt, set up the Flint Hill touchdown.

Huskies senior Arlandis Harvey ran 7 yards for the score with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Flint Hill (8-3) held the 7-0 advantage into half time.

Collegiate linebacker Hunter Broome said during the break that his team talked about having confidence.

"At halftime, we kind of rallied to the chant of believe," he said. "We were just saying believe in yourself. We broke it down after the half to the chant of believe. But a lot of people were kind of rattled after the first half. Stuff wasn't working the way that we had hoped."

Even after the reminder, Teddy Gorrell could see teammates losing faith in the third quarter as possessions ended in a failed fourth-down conversion attempt and an interception near midfield.

"It was pretty tough," he said. "I mean a lot of people on the sideline had tears running down their faces before the game was even over. But I knew we would stay in and stay focused."

Finally there was the reward. Under duress deep behind the line of scrimmage, McGee managed to keep a third-down play alive by scrambling and then dumping a pass off to Alex Newsome. Newsome was caught for a loss, but the Huskies also caught his facemask. The personal foul advanced Collegiate to the Flint Hill 22, and McGee completed a more composed first-down throw to Newsome, who shook a defender for the tying touchdown with 4:40 remaining.

"It was like you could hear the clock ticking almost as it's going later and later in the fourth quarter," Cougars coach Mark Palyo said. "And we still have a zero up on the board. But certainly once that first score happened and once we made the kick to tie it, that just changed the whole energy level of the team."

The Cougars' defense held, and McGee slid back under center at the Collegiate 29-yard line with 1:52 left on the clock. He hit Newsome for a 4-yard gain before hooking up with Gorrell for the go-ahead catch and run from his own 34.

"I saw him running, then put his hand up," McGee said. "And when he puts that hand up, I know he's wide open, so I just let it fly."

The Collegiate defense held Flint Hill to just 1 yard on its final possession.

"We know that they're a quick-strike team," Huskies coach Michael Wright said. "And when you play a quick-strike team, things can happen in a moment's notice."

FH - Harvey 7 run (O'Connor kick)

C - Newsome 22 pass from McGee (Sharpe kick)

C - Gorrell 66 pass from McGee (Sharpe kick)

RUSHING

Flint Hill: Harvey 16-87, Smith 13-51, Wuya 2-3, Howard 1-3. Collegiate: McGee 21-51, Gorrell 4-13, Harper 1-5.
PASSING

Flint Hill: Smith 5 completions, 14 attempts, 0 interceptions, 14 yards. Collegiate: McGee 15-29-2-171.
RECEIVING

Flint Hill: Harvey 2 catches for (-3) yards, Purkert 1-14, Howard 1-3, Green 1-0. Collegiate: Gorrell 7-117, Newsome 3-19, Kelley 1-15, Wiltshire 1-13, Stites 1-6, Corrigan 1-3, Sillah 1-3.