Nazareth remained composed from the first second to the very last on Saturday at Gately Stadium. No matter what Simeon threw at the Roadrunners, they had an answer and won 34-27 in the Class 7A quarterfinals.
Simeon (11-1) trailed by seven with two minutes to play. Wolverines quarterback Alante Brown led a 79-yard drive down to the Nazareth 3.
With 20.5 seconds left, Simeon called its final timeout. One snap later, the clock expired in what felt like mayhem and confusion.
“We talk about pressure,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. “We practice it in practice fo the big moments. We haven’t had a lot of big moments this year like today, so being in the playoffs and coming out on top in a game like this in the quarterfinals. It’s huge. It’s huge for the kids confidence. There is a reason why Alante Brown is going to Michigan State, and to be able to stop that offense in the closing seconds is a testament to the kids.”
The game felt like a chess match between Brown and Nazareth’s all-around weapon Michael Love.
Love scored three touchdowns including a 75-yard punt return TD with 7:03 left in the second quarter that cut an 14-point Simeon lead in half. Love snatched the ball out of the air, put his nose down and was off to the races.
“I love watching film, and I was studying film and saw that their gunners on film just run straight up the field, they don’t come towards the ball,” Love said. “So I knew that I could just get under them and run straight up the field, that’s exactly what I did.”
Nazareth (11-1) allowed 14 points in the first quarter but then scored 21 unanswered in the second quarter to lead at the half.
“We started off sluggish and I can’t figure it out,” Racki said. “I think it was a little bit of being in the quarterfinals. Simeon came out hungry. Then Michael with that punt return kind of sparked everyone up for us.”
“We knew we would hit the spark sooner or later,” Love said. “I wasn’t worried about if we were going to hit it. I knew we would.”
