Baldwin tops MacArthur in OT

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After squandering an 11-point lead with 4:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, Baldwin broke from its offensive huddle in overtime Saturday trailing visiting MacArthur by a field goal.

Down but not out, the Bruins called a play that brought results all day. Out of an unbalanced formation, running back Nick DeLuca took a direct snap and busted outside left tackle Paul Nosworthy for a 20-yard touchdown run to give Baldwin a thrilling 31-28 Conference I victory over the Generals.

“I saw a big opening and ran as hard as I could,” said DeLuca, a senior who had an 83-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and finished with 156 yards on 14 carries. “It feels great to win,” he added. “Losing the lead was nerve-wracking, but we never gave up on each other and rose to the occasion.”


MacArthur, which forced overtime on Jared Wolfe’s 25-yard field goal with 37 seconds left, had first-and-goal from the Baldwin 5 in OT but couldn’t reach the end zone after Bruins defenders Kendall Frink and Christopher Debique made clutch tackles. Wolfe put the Generals ahead 28-25 with a 20-yard field goal, but a defense that hadn’t allowed a score since midway through the second quarter couldn’t make it stand up.

“We did some really good things, but there are things we need to work on,” MacArthur head coach Bobby Fehrenbach said. “You learn from a loss. It’s just harder in football than other sports because you can’t come back and play another one tomorrow.”

The Bruins (2-0) were sitting pretty with a 25-14 advantage after senior Jared Warner’s dynamic 28-yard interception return for a touchdown was followed by their only successful extra-point conversion of the afternoon. “We thought we were in good shape at that point,” Baldwin head coach Steve Carroll said. “But they passed the heck out of the ball and we opened the door for them.”

MacArthur junior quarterback Jimmy Kelleher (23 of 41, 261 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) couldn’t have responded better following the pick-six. He directed an 80-play scoring drive, capped by his 4-yard touchdown run, and connected with Paul Giuliano on a two-point conversion pass to cut the margin to 25-22 with 2:18 to go. 

The ensuing on-sides kick dribbled out of bounds, but some confusion on second down for Baldwin led to a sack and fumble. Mike Rothberg recovered for the Generals, who then marched inside the red zone with less than a minute remaining and settled on the game-tying kick.

“We made a bunch of mistakes today, but the kids showed character,” Carroll said. “It would’ve been a tough loss to take.”

Each team scored on its opening possession, on similar-looking plays. Kelleher rolled left and hit tight end Marc Arboleda on a 10-yard touchdown pass for the game’s first score, and the Bruins answered with quarterback Thomas York rolling right and finding Matt Eberhart from four yards out.

Baldwin led 18-7 at halftime, but the lead was cut to four in the third quarter when a fumble recovery by Doug Hughes set up Wolfe’s 24-yard touchdown grab. Wolfe had eight catches for 118 yards, and Mike Papach added 63 yards on five receptions.