JJ Castle’s TD pass as time expires lifts Newman over Hall

SPRING VALLEY — With about 10 seconds left and the clock running, the Newman football team scrambled to the line to get off a fourth-and-goal play.

Newman quarterback JJ Castle took the snap and fired a pass to Ayden Batten, who went down in the end zone as he caught the ball for a 3-yard touchdown as time expired, sending Newman players running in celebration toward the sideline while Hall’s players were left hunched over or on their knees stunned as the Comets escaped with a 20-18 victory at Richard Nesti Stadium.

“It’s amazing,” Castle said. “This is playoff territory for us right now. They were 3-3. We were 3-3. We needed to win all games to be guaranteed in the playoffs so this is a big one for us.”

[ Photos from Newman vs. Hall football ]

The Comets called their final timeout before second down with 43.4 seconds left.

“We scheduled two plays to run to hopefully get it in there,” Castle said. “They didn’t end up working out, so we had another play planned and it worked. It’s a miracle.”

Castle said he knew he was going to throw it to Batten on the final play.

“Ayden had been burning his kid all day,” Castle said. “He was on the short side of the field. I was going to throw it to him right away.

“I knew he was going to catch that pass.”

The comeback started with some good fortune for the Comets.

The Red Devils punted from their own 45 with 3:10 left and it went out of bounds at the Newman 30, but due to an inadvertent whistle, Hall had to punt again.

After an offsides on Hall, the Red Devils couldn’t get their second punt attempt off as Newman’s Daniel Kelly tackled Hunter Meagher for a 10-yard loss, giving the Comets the ball on the Hall 30.

After a 3-yard loss, an incompletion and a delay of game, the Comets faced a third-and-17 from the 23, but a 15-yard pass from Castle to Nolan Britt and a 2-yard run by Castle set up the goal-to-go situation.

“It worked out in our favor getting a short field,” Newman coach Mike LeMay said. “Honestly, it would have been tough to move down.

“[The final play] was kind of hectic. We got them back in the formation we were in and called a zero pass and I guess the rest is history. He got the ball out and [Batten] made a really nice catch. I’m proud of how our kids executed under pressure. … It’s something we won’t forget. The kids will always remember this game and how it ended the rest of their lives. Of course, you wish you could have stopped them or did this or that, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. We got it done.”

The Red Devils looked to be in prime position in the fourth quarter.

After stopping Newman on fourth down on the Comets’ first drive of the second half, the Red Devils marched 80 yards on 16 plays, taking 9:20 off the clock and scoring on a 1-yard run by Joseph Bacidore to go up 18-14 on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Hall the stopped Newman on another fourth down before taking another 4:20 off the clock before the disastrous final sequence.

“I thought our kids played with a lot of heart and deserved to win that game,” Hall coach Randy Tieman said. “They made a couple mistakes and it didn’t work out for us.

“We didn’t get the punt off (on the rekick) and it’s a 60-yard change in possession. Our defense played well in the second half, but we were tired at the end. We made three big stops then they complete the pass.”

Hall (3-4) must win out to become playoff eligible. The Red Devils play at St. Bede (6-1) next week before closing with Bureau Valley (1-6).

“It puts our backs to the wall,” Tieman said. “We have to get the two wins. We have a daunting task next week going to St. Bede. These guys know its playoffs the rest of the way just to get in.”

In the first half, Hall scored first on a 2-yard run by Mac Resetich on the opening drive before Newman responded with a 17-yard TD run by Castle on its first drive.

Newman went up 14-6 on a 3-yard TD run by Brady Grennan with 6:56 left in the first half, while Hall made it 14-12 at the break on a 5-yard TD run by Bacidore with 2:31 left.

Castle completed 5 of 6 passes for 91 yards and a TD while rushing for 45 yards and a score for Newman.

Resetich ran for 219 yards and a TD for Hall, while Bacidore ran for 38 yards and two scores.