St. Mary’s football slips past Fenwick

The St. Mary’s football squad snapped its two-decade winless streak against Bishop Fenwick, when quarterback Cam Mulvey threw a 20-yard touchdown to teammate Tim Ray with 29 seconds remaining to edge the Crusaders, 24-20, at Manning Field Saturday evening.The Spartans drove from their own one-yard line on the winning possession (which began with 3:19 left), covering 11 plays in just under three minutes. The team drove into Fenwick territory when back Steve Carroll (7-76) went through the Crusaders defense for 30 yards to the 34. Moments later, Mulvey gained a pair of yards on fourth-and-1 to the 23. After a three-yard gain, and a spike to stop the clock, Mulvey found Ray just inside the 5 on the far side, and the receiver gave the lead back to the Spartans. Teammate Nick Day added the two-point run to ensure the thrilling victory.”How nice this was for it (the win) to happen on Senior Night,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin said. “Cam led us downfield, and Tim makes the (winning) catch (both seniors). It was a beautiful throw by Cam, and he had great protection from the line. Just a great game by both teams.”The winning drive was set up due to the Spartans (6-3) stonewalling the Crusaders at the one after Fenwick moved downfield on a 22-play drive that encompassed 80 yards and a fumbled punt return by St. Mary’s. Crusaders’ fullback Nick Corbett (20-207, 3 TDS) was stopped at the one after a 2-yard gain on fourth-and-goal from the 3. Linebacker Corey Bartlett made the initial stop on Corbett, with the rest of the defense following through.”Our defense came up big all night long, but especially on that play,” said Durgin.The Spartans held a 16-14 edge at the half, but that changed quickly on the first play of the third quarter. Corbett found a hole at midfield after taking a handoff, and raced downfield for a 56-yard score, and a 20-16 Fenwick advantage.It was Corbett who also scored the game’s first points, when the Crusaders (3-6) took over after St. Mary’s went three-and-out to begin the game. Corbett took a handoff from quarterback Chris Renzulli, and 72 yards later, gave his squad a 6-0 edge. Teammate Tyler Thomann’s two-point run improved the lead to 8-0.”Corbett’s a kid who has worked hard all year, and practices hard every day,” said Fenwick coach Dave Woods of the back. “Both he and (Tyler) Thomann (17-48) just pound the ball and follow their tackles.”St. Mary’s came back on its next series when Day finished off a nine-play drive with his six-yard score. Todd Collier evened the game with his two-point run.Corbett added his second touchdown moments into the second quarter on a 12-yard carry, but Day took a pitch from Mulvey for his second score from the Crusader 34. Collier gave a 16-14 lead to St. Mary’s with his second two-point run.”There were no losers tonight on the field, and that’s what I told my team,” Woods said. “It was just a great game by both clubs, and I’m proud of the effort that we gave.”