Miraculous. Unbelievable. Fantastic. These words may not be strong enough to describe Boothbay’s 15-12 victory Sept. 21 over John Bapst. A Seahawk victory looked bleak after a fourth quarter drive ended deep in John Bapst territory with less than two minutes remaining. With the game clock ticking away, Boothbay’s resolve and defense stiffened. On a fourth and less than one yard, John Bapst coach Dan O’Connell called a quarterback sneak from his own 23 yard  line. The risky strategy failed and gave Boothbay renewed life with 27 seconds remaining.

Three plays later, Boothbay was down to its final play with eight seconds remaining. The John Bapst pass rush chased quarterback Hunter Crocker for a few seconds before he unleashed a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. The last second 23-yard touchdown pass was caught by wingback Michael Hollowell for a game-winning score.

“Nick (Morley) is my go-to guy, but he was covered,” Crocker said. “Michael ran a 44 which is an out, a fake, then he runs an up. The pass rush was coming and I chucked it, and he caught it.”

Boothbay is now 2-2. Class C John Bapst hasn’t won a game in over two years. The Crusaders (0-4) hoped playing a team two classes smaller in enrollment would result in their first victory in a couple seasons. And after Crusader Quinn Mitchell returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, it looked like John Bapst might emerge victorious.

But Boothbay rebounded by scoring the game’s next nine points. Seahawk junior Nicholas Morley accounted for eight of them. In the second quarter, Boothbay’s defense pinned John Bapst back to the one yard line. A fumbled snap led to Morley sacking the quarterback in the end zone for a safety. “I think they were trying a long pass because as I tackled him he was double clutching trying to make his throw,” Morley said. Boothbay took the lead later in the quarter when Crocker connected to Morley on a 24-yard touchdown pass.

But in the second half, John Bapst began dominating both lines of scrimmage. A long drive which began midway in the third quarter lasted into the fourth and was capped off by an 11-yard Crusader touchdown pass.  John Bapst had the lead, 12-9, and momentum. But midway in the fourth, Boothbay took advantage of a good field position and drove inside John Bapst’s 30 yard line with under four minutes left. A failed fourth down attempt turned the ball back to Bapst.

The Crusaders began their last drive hoping to run the clock out.  But on a second down and one, the Seahawk defense stopped John Bapst runners on successive plays for no gain. Facing a fourth and one,  O’Connell opted against punting. The decision had Boothbay players and coaches believing they had one more shot at victory. “We were blitzing and when Hunter saw they weren’t punting he rushed up and made them nervous causing a bad snap,” said Hollowell.

For second year Boothbay head coach Ed Crocker, the Seahawk victory was one of the most memorable in school history. Not only did Boothbay play a school two classes higher in enrollment, but Boothbay had little to no depth. He used 11-13 players who virtually took every snap on defense, offense and special teams.

“The school has won state and conference championships, but this win ranks right up there as one of the most important in school history,” he said. “John Bapst had separate squads for offense and defense. We played 11-13 guys who played virtually every snap. They were tired, but they never gave up.”

Boothbay plays winless Sacopee Valley of Hiram at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28 at Sherman Field.