Athlete of the Week: M-A’s Matt MacLeod

Needless to say, M-A needed something to get its offense going in the second half.

For all the talent up and down the Bears’ offensive lineup — Franklin, the dynamic playmaker; the three-headed backfield threat of senior Barker, De’Marshaun Payton and Destin Hawkins; the typically steady throwing arm of Alexander — the hero M-A so desperately needed emerged from out of the clear, blue sky.

There was under 17 minutes remaining in regulation when the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week, freshman quarterback Matt MacLeod, stepped onto the field at Independence High School. M-A was facing a 28-14 deficit, while Wilcox had just punted after opening the half with a possession that ticked over seven minutes off the game clock.

Having played sparingly in one previous game, MacLeod had never even attempted a pass at the varsity level. And his first series didn’t exactly go great, as the Bears went three-and-out, with MacLeod’s first varsity passing try getting batted down by a blitzing Wilcox pass rusher.

“After the first drive — we went three and out — I thought I blew my chance,” MacLeod said. “Coach even went over the rest of the game plan with me and Jack. So I was like, ‘who’s going to go in?’”

Bears head coach Adhir Ravipati stayed with MacLeod, a gutsy but necessary move with Alexander dealing with a recurring leg injury that cost him the first eight games of the season.

In the absence of Alexander — who was 1-of-5 passing for 17 yards in the first half — M-A would have had to turn back to the carousel of quarterbacks it relied on earlier in the year, all of whom are standouts at other positions: Barker (running back), junior Justin Anderson (wide receiver and safety) and senior Feleti Malupo (linebacker).

“[Alexander] has played injured to get us here,” Ravipati said. “So I think that says a lot about him as a kid and a player.”

But, after an interception by Anderson gave M-A the ball back with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter, MacLeod soldiered back out. The freshman immediately connected with senior receiver Joey Olshausen for an 8-yard pickup, and M-A benefitted from a Wilcox personal foul on the play to gain a first down.

“I already had a bit of confidence,” MacLeod said. “And then, really, when I completed my first pass to Joey, I was good from there.”

Still, M-A saw another drive stall out. Despite MacLeod connecting with Anderson on fourth-and-10 for a 22-yard gain, the Bears ultimately turned the ball over on downs.

When the mighty Bears defense gave its young quarterback another chance on a strip and fumble recovery by junior Sasongi Eke, MacLeod seized it and rained down with seven completions on his next eight attempts.

With M-A taking over at the Wilcox 23, MacLeod found senior Jake Wang down the left sideline for a 22-yard gain. The Bears punched it in on the next play to cut the deficit to 28-21 with 8:56 remaining. M-A got the ball back in less than a minute on another fumble recovery, this time by senior linebacker Daniel Heimuli. MacLeod responded with consecutive completions of 8, 4 and 4 yards.

Then, after throwing incomplete on second down, and M-A facing third-and-6 from the Wilcox 29, MacLeod was staring down the barrel of a broke play. He rolled out of the pocket and soon had two Wilcox defenders bearing down on him.

“I was like, ‘uh-oh, what do I do now?’” MacLeod said. “So, I just started running to my right, and then I had the (defensive) linemen paying attention to me, and I just lofted it over them.”

Anderson was wide open at the 10-yard line to make the catch and battle his way across the goal line to close the score to 28-27. As MacLeod returned to the sideline, however, he heard the roar of the M-A crowd suddenly turn to a hush when the point-after try was blocked.

With just 6:07 remaining, this meant the freshman would have to do it again. And once again, the mighty M-A defense gave him the chance, producing a three-and-out to force a punt, giving the Bears the ball back at the Wilcox 31 with 5:30 to play.

MacLeod was greeted with a sack, losing 6 yards. But he responded by turning another desperate rollout into a 5-yard completion to Wang. On third-and-11, he hit Wang again, this time for a 15-yard pickup.

With that, Ravipati realized he had Wilcox right where he wanted them and the Bears went to the ground, with two steady gains by Barker to set up the game-winner. And for the go-ahead touchdown, M-A made some magic in looking to a Franklin for an end-around toss.

The toss, admittedly, wasn’t MacLeod’s finest moment. With Franklin working his way around the right side, MacLeod pitched the ball behind his target, forcing Franklin to readjust and come back for the ball.

“I pitched it short, so he really just saved me day because he just came back for it and he reversed the field,” MacLeod said. “Not many people can do that.”

In changing direction, Franklin flew around the left side for a dazzling 11-yard score to give M-A its first lead with 3:33 to play at 33-28 — the winning score, and M-A’s second CCS Open Division I title in three years.

“It was amazing,” MacLeod said. “It was a great feeling. One of the best I’ve ever had.”

Not a bad ride for a kid who played the entire regular season with the junior-varsity squad. The JV Bears lost just one game all year, but MacLeod wasn’t relied on to throw the ball with regularity as the team was run intensive. The freshman said he surpassed 20 pass attempts in just one game all season.

MacLeod wasn’t even cleared to play varsity football until the final week of the regular season. As a 14-year-old freshman, he required specific consent from his parents and a doctor, both of which needed clearance from M-A’s coaching staff, principal and the CCS.

Now, he’s just one of the guys.

MacLeod’s final line was 10-of-18 passing for 118 yards — for the game and, currently, for his varsity career.

And returning to school was a Monday like no other.

“It’s been awesome,” MacLeod said. “We’ve been walking around high-fiving all day.”