Sacred Heart Prep claims PAL Bay Division football crown

It was the Gators’ first victory over their crosstown rival since 2014, the last time SHP earned a league title.

“It’s the first time we’ve beat them in eight years, this is the best win I’ve ever been a part of,” SHP senior Conrad Wilbur said. “Everyone’s riding high right now.”

Wilbur sent the Gators into the halftime locker room with a 21-7 lead, capping a 21-point second quarter with a 2-yard scoring run with 21 seconds remaining in the half. But it was the play of quarterback Mitchell Taylor and two-way standout Carter Shaw that turned the tide.

After M-A (3-2, 5-4) jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a 10-yard scoring pass from Billy Johnson to Jayden Moss midway through the first quarter, the Gators used versatility and depth on offense to keep the Bears from keying on any one player. That left SHP’s two marque skill players in Taylor and Shaw to take over the game with impunity.

“It took us a little while to get going on offense,” SHP head coach Mark Grieb said. “I thought M-A came out real physical and they made some plays on the line of scrimmage that kind of stunted our run game a little bit. But our defense made some huge plays and kind of limited the damage. … And, man, the offense just kind of exploded.”

SHP’s defense opened the second quarter with a fourth-down stop to force a turnover on downs, giving the Gators the ball at their own 23. From there, a steady dose of running backs Anthony Noto and Andrew Latu — along with three third-down conversions — gave SHP the steady flow it has consistently established all season.

It took the Gators 15 plays and nearly seven minutes, but the drive culminated in a 5-yard bootleg score by Taylor to tie it 7-7.

Then Shaw asserted himself with authority. But before his weekly highlight reel play on offense gave SHP the lead, his presence was felt at the cornerback spot on defense.

“He’s been outstanding as a defensive player,” Grieb said. “We always put him on the best receiver on the other team. Just his attitude and playmaking ability on the defensive side of the ball has been huge.”

The Gators forced a three-and-out, with Shaw breaking up a short sideline out route on third-and-5. With M-A punting the ball away, the Gators again started from their own 23. After an offside penalty on M-A, it took SHP just one play to span the distance to the end zone, as Taylor connected with Shaw on a post route off the right side, leading Shaw — who had a step on the cornerback and no M-A safety trailing the play — to daylight for a 72-yard touchdown score.

“It was actually a really good throw by Mitchell,” Shaw said. “Perfectly on time. And then it turned into a completion, and we were able to run down that field.”

Then came the stunner when, with 2:19 remaining in the half, the Gators recovered an onside kick. SHP junior George Smith came away from the pile missing his helmet but raising the ball with the momentous recovery. Six plays later, Wilbur was slamming into the end zone behind a wall from RJ Stephens and a monster block from Marat Misra.

“It was just like parting the Red Sea,” Wilbur said. “Wide open holes. … Anyone could run through those holes.”

The momentum shift was palpable prior to halftime, with M-A — having to run three plays on offense before the break — looking noticeably deflated.

“That was definitely my challenge,” M-A head coach Chris Saunders said. “I told them at halftime, it was very clear, it was palpable where the momentum was. We felt like we got taken out of our sideline, and that we can’t have. Above everything else, x’s and o’s and execution, attitude and energy is at a premium in high school football.”

But it was more of the same to open the second half. SHP took the second-half kickoff, and promptly went on a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive, capped by a 17-yard scoring bootleg by Taylor.

M-A made a change at quarterback, subbing in senior Colton Assunto, in an effort to spark the offense. The switch made a difference at first, as the Bears fired back, scoring on Assunto’s first series. He completed short passes of 5, 6, 5 and 8 to steady the offense before senior running back Sherrod Smith scored on a 1-yard blast to make it 28-14 with 2:18 to go in the third quarter.

The Bears forced a quick three-and-out but traded possessions before taking over again midway through the fourth quarter. Then the SHP defense sealed the win when cornerback John Chung stepped in front of an Assunto pass for a pick-6 interception for the game’s final score.

“We felt like we had some momentum,” Saunders said. “And we felt like we could get the yards we needed. We knew we weren’t going to get it all on one play, which would have been nice. But, yeah, that interception really sealed it out. I thought we had a chance to be in a position to fight to the end there.”

The game was as much a reunion as a rivalry, as many of the opposing players spent time together on the field postgame. Even the two head coaches have history, as Saunders worked on Grieb’s staff in 2013 at Menlo College, where Grieb was head coach and Saunders was an assistant coach for special teams and running backs.

“The two communities are really one community, broadly,” Saunders said. “They all went to the same grammar schools and are neighbors and whatnot. Coaching staffs too. … There’s just a lot. So, very familiar.”

But Saturday belonged to the Gators, who haven’t won in head-to-head play with the Bears since this season’s senior were third graders.

“For me, it’s just showing everyone who we know that we are,” Shaw said. “A lot of people were doubting us at the beginning of the season. We came out 0-1. We’re on an eight-game winning streak. So, put the Gators on your list.”