By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com
Jerome Couplin III certainly didn’t tell his coach this, but when he would go into the huddle during the second half of Saturday’s game he continuously told quarterback Kevin Clark to just toss the ball up to him.
McNamara trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter and Clark and Couplin III were in the process of mounting an unreal comeback. So Clark did it.
Three straight touchdown passes from Clark to Couplin III later, McNamara notched an emotional come-from-behind 36-35 win at O’Connell that puts the Mustangs in the lead for the WCAC’s fourth and final playoff spot, a spot it also claimed the past two years, with just one week remaining.
After the game-winning catch with 3 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in regulation, in which Couplin III simply out-leapt the cornerback on a virtual jump-ball, Couplin III hardly showed any emotion. That’s the result of 11 receptions for 199 yards and four touchdowns – all of which came in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, I was tired,” Couplin III said. “It was hard work and dedication. We gave it our all. … [I told Clark] ‘Throw it. You put it there, I’m going to get it.’”
Clark, who has battled a pair of nagging injuries to his throwing hand that has forced him to the bench at times this season, was 21-31 for 436 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
“We came together as a team that second half and we pulled it out,” Clark said. “It lets us know we can do anything as long as we put our minds to it.”
McNamara (5-4, 3-3 WCAC) now has a one-game advantage over O’Connell (5-4, 2-4) and Gonzaga (2-7, 2-4), whom the Mustangs were tied with entering Saturday’s slate of games.
If McNamara beats DeMatha next Saturday, the Mustangs are in the playoffs. If the Mustangs lose Gonzaga and the winner of the Paul VI and O’Connell game could tie McNamara with a 3-4 conference record.
McNamara holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over O’Connell and Paul VI, Gonzaga holds the tiebreaker over McNamara and O’Connell holds the tiebreaker over Gonzaga, meaning the fourth playoff team would be drawn randomly.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve got the playoffs secured yet,” Mustangs Coach Bryce Bevill said. “But we put ourselves in a better position for the playoffs.”
The playoffs didn’t seem too likely for McNamara just a few weeks ago when the Mustangs lost four of five games including a 26-7 home loss to Gonzaga. Just as McNamara has fought its way back into playoff contention, so did the Mustangs fight on Saturday.
O’Connell dominated the first half, piling up more than 300 yards of offense while McNamara’s offense hardly touched the ball. Junior running back Greg Gadell ran for 55 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came in the first half.
Two plays – a 64-yard touchdown pass from Clark to Brandon Coleman on the first play of one drive and a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Darrian Carmichael – kept the Mustangs afloat at halftime.
But after a defensive switch in which Bevill added another linebacker to the Mustangs’ formation, McNamara held O’Connell to just 77 yards of offense and three first downs in the second half.
Still, on an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by O’Connell sophomore Josh Trimble (107 yards, 15 carries) O’Connell took a 35-18 lead 19 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“When they returned that kickoff we could have put our heads down then,” Clark said. “But we knew we had to keep fighting and we could win.”
McNamara scored just four plays and 33 seconds later as Clark connected with Couplin III for a 52-yard touchdown on third-and-15. After holding the Knights, McNamara’s next drive started on its own 12-yard line. The drive was extended when Clark hit junior Devin Basset Jr. for a 45-yard gain on fourth-and-4, then found Couplin III open for a 28-yard touchdown pass and catch to bring the score to 35-30.
O’Connell took over on its own 11-yard line with 5:22 to burn. After a 1-yard run by Trimble, McNamara linebacker Devin Douglas intercepted a pass over the middle and returned it to the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Clark lobbed the ball to Couplin in the end zone.
“I just read the quarterback’s eyes and I was right there for the interception and I just tried to take it back to the house,” Douglas said.
The Knights still had enough time to mount one last drive but the Mustangs’ run defense allowed just one yard on the first three plays and Couplin III intercepted the fourth-and-9 pass to seal the game.
“We know what our goal is and we know what we want to do,” Couplin III said before being asked whether he’s still going to keep asking for the ball. “Of course!”
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