A big talking point at Homewood-Flossmoor, from coach Terrell Alexander on down, is how to deal with hard times.
“It’s all about facing adversity,” junior quarterback Randall McDonald said. “We always talk about coming together and being one. No one can stop us when we come together.”
The Vikings had plenty of adversity to contend with on Saturday. Trenton Roseborough, who split quarterback duties with McDonald, left the game with a wrist injury late in the first half. H-F gave up a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The Vikings were two scores down with less than two minutes left in the game.
But somehow H-F scored twice in 68 seconds and pulled out a wild 54-47 win over visiting Marian Catholic.
“That was a great dogfight right there,” said McDonald, who passed for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth.
The Vikings (1-1) shuttled quarterbacks in and out early in the afternoon. Sometimes it was from one play to the next as McDonald, Roseborough and wildcat QBs Brandon Brigham and Arthur McKnight all took snaps.
“Everything [is] going to be done by committee until we can get things shored up,” H-F coach Terrell Alexander said. “[Almost] none of these guys have varsity experience. ... So we knew these guys will have to see the speed of the game and just what comes along with it before they grew up. And we grew up together today.”
After Roseborough’s injury, McDonald got the bulk of the snaps. He finished 14-of-21 passing for 244 yards and the four TDs. The first two, a 57-yarder to sophomore Myles Ellis and a 23-yarder to Jayden Banks, came in the game’s first three minutes. They followed Kansas commit Austin Alexander’s 90-yard return of the opening kickoff for Marian (1-1).
“If you know our team, Randall has always been in the mix,” Alexander said. “Randall has been amazing the entire summer. We knew he would have to grow into it. We didn’t know how quick he would have to grow into it.”
Adding another dimension to the H-F offense is Brigham, who had 20 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns. The second, from seven yards out with 30.6 seconds left, was the game-winner.
H-F was down two scores, 47-38, before McDonald and Ellis connected for their third TD of the day with 1:38 left. The Vikings’ Carlton Brownfield then recovered an onside kick to set up Brigham’s decisive score.
“I kept telling people, I was like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna score,” Brigham said.
H-F’s 22-point fourth quarter also featured an odd pick six when Sochim Ozoh intercepted a screen pass at the Marian 1-yard line and stepped into the end zone.
“I told the guys I didn’t think that we could script being up in the fourth quarter, going down again, having to get the defensive touchdown, going down again and having to get the onside kick,” Alexander said.
Marian had plenty of heroes of its own. Alexander added a touchdown run as a wildcat quarterback, while Kaleb Isom caught 28- and 63-yard TD passes and had a 55-yard pick six.
Carter Magerski was 14-of-24 passing for 216 yards and three touchdowns, while Tyler Lofton had 21 carries for 125 yards and a score.
