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Fantastic finish

Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Konyae Redd of Harding celebrates a touchdown pass during the Raiders' win over Ursuline.

WARREN — They saved the best for last Friday night at Mollenkopf Stadium.

The Warren G. Harding Raiders never led Ursuline in a non-league football contest until Marco Patierno scored ona 4-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds remaining and the hosts held on for a 28-24 victory.

“Our kids hung in there and persevered, and this was a big win for us coming off back-to-back losses to good football teams,” Harding coach Steve Arnold said. “Yes sir, we needed this one. We could’ve put our heads down after we fumbled going in (to the end zone) at the end of the first half. Then after (Ursuline) took the second-half kickoff and drove right down the field (and scored), that could’ve taken some wind out of our sails, but we came right back to score and then battled to the finish.

“This was a great high school football game. I’m just happy that we finished it off and got the win. We showed some grit.”

Trailing 24-21, the Raiders took possession with 6:33 remaining and went 73 yards in 12 plays.

Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Mar'Kuan Brown of Harding slams Ursuline quarterback Matthew Reardon to the turf.

The Raiders (2-3) converted two third downs and a fourth down in the winning march.

Patierno ran for 3 yards on third-and-1, and tight end Quincy Brown hauled in a crucial 26-yard pass on a third-and-5 that moved the ball to the Ursuline 14. Harding quarterback Elijah Taylor barely earned a first down on a fourth-and-1 sneak at the Irish 5 with 1:01 left.

“We did a lot of things well, but (Harding) just made a few more plays in the end,” said Ursuline coach Dan Reardon, whose team fell to 3-2. “Our defense played great for three-and-a-half quarters, with an exception of a play or two. Our offense played well for three quarters. But we gave up a late touchdown, and we didn’t score in the fourth quarter. Those are the things which cost you ballgames when you play good competition.

“We just couldn’t get that final stop. We stopped them on third-and-inches, and then they convert the next play.”

Taylor was 21-for-33 passing for 249 yards and connected with nine receivers.

Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Brysen Powell of Harding rushes for yardage as Ursuline's John Edmonds pursues.

“We’ve been working on spreading the ball out in our pass game, and we were able to do that tonight because we were able to run the ball pretty well,” Arnold said. “I thought a lot of players made key plays througout the game, especially our running backs, Brysen Powell, Marco Patierno and Delmar McMillan. They complement each other well.”

The Irish went four-and-out with their final possession, as Jabari Felton sacked quarterback Brady Shannon twice.

“I just wanted to make some big plays, and it was a great time and great way to finish the game,” Felton said. “I thought our defense played great in the fourth quarter. Everyone was stepping up.”

Ursuline’s Dante Walker opened the scoring on a 33-yard run, but the Irish tried a fake kick on the point-after attempt, and Matthew Reardon was stopped short as the Irish led 6-0 entering the second period.

Reardon converted a fake punt on Ursuline’s next possession, a 14-yard gain on fourth-and-1. Reardon, a receiver, then threw to usual quarterback Shannon for 56 yards to set up what eventually was a 9-yard touchdown from Shannon to Reardon for a 12-0 lead.

“(Ursuline) looked sharp in the first half and had some things clicking,” Arnold said. “Both teams gave away a few fumbles, but the one right before half hurt because we would’ve had the lead at half. Then (Ursuline) drove right down for a touchdown to begin the third quarter, and we were a little concerned.”

The Raiders used a 26-yard scoring pass from Taylor to Dom Foster with 2:43 left before halftime and then forced a fumble. They had a first-and-goal at the Irish 5 before losing the ball on a fumble of their own with 1:18 left before halftime.

Ursuline took an 18-7 lead on a 19-yard TD run from Walker to begin the third period, but the Raiders responded with a 48-yard TD pass from Taylor to Konyae Redd. Both teams missed extra-point kicks, and the score was 18-13.

The teams again traded touchdowns before the end of the third quarter, with DeMarcus McElroy scoring on a 1-yard run for the Irish, and Brysen Powell scoring on a 15-yard gallop for the Raiders. But Ursuline didn’t convert its PAT pass and Harding did, as the score was 24-21, Irish, heading into the fourth period.

“Outstanding high school football game, but we came up on the short end,” coach Reardon said.

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