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Hail Mary!: High school team nabs biggest win in Canadian history

Hail Mary’s are always exciting to watch as a football fan.

A team is in desperation mode, the seconds are ticking off the clock and the only thing left for the QB to do is air it out down the field and hope one of his receivers can haul it in for a touchdown.

And that’s exactly what happened in this contest between Clarkson Football North and St. Ignatius.

There were three seconds left on the clock and Football North’s QB Quincy Vaughn threw down field to Nathan Demontagnac who caught the pass in the corner of the end zone to tie things up. Then kicker Zack Frustaglio made the extra point for the win. Game, set, match.

The win was the biggest in history for any high school football program from Canada.

Check out the full game recap here:

After a last minute touchdown put them behind by six points, Clarkson Football North shocked St. Ignatius with a Hail Mary in the dying moments to secure a massive 41-40 victory in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday night.

Old Dominion commit CFC100 Quincy Vaughn was spectacular from the opening whistle, but left his best pass for last connecting with CFC100 Nathan Demontagnac in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 40-40. The home crowd did their best to get in the head of kicker Zack Frustaglio, but the CFC Prospect Game participant showed no fear knocking through the extra point to secure the biggest win in history for any high school football program from Canada.

St. Ignatius are known as one of the top powerhouses out of Cleveland entering the game ranked 26th nationally, and 4th in-state. They’re also the proud owners of 11 state championships, with their most recent coming in 2011.

The biggest issue was trying to limit Vaughn, who finished the game completing 32 of his 41 passes for 441 yards and five touchdowns. There were a couple interceptions along the way, but they were only a minor blip with Demontagnac and CFC100 Tristan Michaud both going for over 100 yards receiving in the victory, while CFC Prospect Game participant CFC100 Malcolm Bell helped lead the way in the secondary with 10 total tackles, two knockdowns, and 0.5 tackles for loss. Fox 40 Prospect Challenge MVP CFC100 Adrian Facciponte also turned in a big performance with 8 total tackles, and CFC100 Cade Cote gathered 5.5 total tackles and two sacks.

The first half was a defensive affair, ending in a 14-10 lead for Clarkson after a last-minute touchdown drive put the visitors up.

On the first drive of the second half, St. Ignatius drove the ball and scored on three plays capped by a long touchdown pass for the touchdown. The two teams went back and forth with the third quarter ending in a 27-27 score, however a costly missed extra point by Clarkson could have been the difference.

The dramatic fourth quarter was highlighted by two touchdowns on each side, however this time St. Ignatius missed an extra point on their final touchdown with just under a minute remaining on the game clock. With one timeout remaining, Clarkson drove the ball from their own 20-yard line to the St Ignatius 49-yard line in three plays. The next play was the last, the Hail Mary touchdown for the victory from Vaughn to Demontagnac.

It does not get any easier this week as Clarkson gets on a plane to Tampa, where they battle the nationally 3rd ranked IMG Blue (top team) in Bradenton, Florida. The “Friday Night Lights” game can be watched at 7:00pm on www.facebook.com/IMGAcademy.

– With files from CanadaFootballChat.com