Fourth-and-miracle to go: Bishop Carroll football produces improbable comeback win
Sometimes when your entire season comes down to one last-gasp try, all you can do is close your eyes and let it fly.
Or at least that’s what you do if you’re Bishop Carroll quarterback Chase Smarsh and you’re trailing by a touchdown in the game’s final minute and staring down a 4th-and-17.
“Honestly, I just kind of threw it up there,” Smarsh could admit later. “I just closed my eyes and let it go.”
After all, prayers can only be answered if they are sent and Smarsh sailed his high into the brisk, October night, down the left sideline toward the most unlikely of heroes.
Tim Helten had caught less than 10 passes in Bishop Carroll’s pass-heavy offense before Friday night. There is nothing about his 6-foot, 165-pound frame that presents a physical mismatch. Yet with everything on the line, Helten was chosen to decide the team’s fate.
“It was a lot of pressure,” Helten said. “But I like that.”
All of the hard work he had logged, mostly anonymously, in practice over the course of his senior season — shoot, maybe even his career — had led to this moment. And when the opportunity presented itself, Helten was ready.
Running stride-for-stride with the defensive back, Helten located the ball, high-pointed it with a hand in his face, and managed to come down with an improbable 29-yard, first-down grab.
The rest is history: Bishop Carroll snatched victory from defeat to rally for a 31-28 victory over Hutchinson. And to think, this was just the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. The Golden Eagles (7-2) could have another classic next Friday against west-side rival Maize (7-2).
“That was the biggest catch of my career,” said Helten, who nearly matched his season-long production in one playoff game with a team-high eight catches for 85 yards. “I just watched the ball all the way into my hands, just like the coaches say every time. It’s just reps and reps. I just did the same thing during the game.”
Those practice repetitions were actually on the mind of Carroll coach Dusty Trail when he dialed up the fourth-down play.
“He’s really the only one in practice that has shown the ability to go up and get the ball, to climb the ladder,” Trail said. “That’s why we decided to give him a shot. I guess we probably should have given him more shots this year.”
Even with Helten’s superb grab, Carroll still had work to do — 34 yards away from the end zone with no timeouts left and the clock ticking under 50 seconds.
In last week’s 26-19 loss to Wichita East, Carroll’s final drive to potentially tie the game came up empty with an interception in the end zone. Given another chance, Smarsh was determined to keep his poise in such a chaotic situation.
“Your mind is going 100 different places at the same time,” Trail said. “Chase has had some anxious moments this season, but hopefully that last drive proves to him that he can handle anything.”
Faced with a third-and-5, Smarsh calmly delivered a strike to Luke Holthusen for 11 yards and a first down. On a third-and-goal from the nine-yard line, Smarsh threw a fade to Helten in the end zone that was flagged for pass interference.
With five seconds left, he had one — maybe two chances left at the end zone. Trail had the perfect play call saved for the situation.
Earlier in the game, Smarsh had thrown an interception that was returned for a touchdown on an out route. Carroll figured that Hutchinson’s secondary would try to jump that route in their desperation, so Trail called for slot receiver, Matt Holthusen, to fake an out route, then cut in. Sure enough, Holthusen broke free, Smarsh made the read and his pass connected with Holthusen just past the goal line with one second remaining on the clock.
“We practice our two-minute offense every week, so we were prepared for this,” Holthusen said. “We were calm. We knew what we were doing. We just went out there and did what we’re supposed to do.”
Smarsh was calm on the exterior. His insides were another story.
“It felt like a million pounds was lifted off my shoulders,” Smarsh said of the game-tying touchdown throw. “It felt so good.”
After coming back from almost sure defeat, Carroll’s sideline felt the wave of momentum as it prepared for the overtime period. Carroll’s defense had pitched a second-half shutout and was confident Hutchinson wasn’t about to score in overtime.
Sure enough, Carroll’s defense stonewalled Hutchinson three straight times to set up a fourth-and-5. After deliberating, Hutchinson opted to go for the touchdown, but its final play never had a chance as the snap was botched.
“I may have been biting my nails the whole time on our last drive (in regulation), but I knew once we got to OT that we were stopping them,” Carroll senior safety Michael Polley said. “I believed in my guys.”
And it was Polley who secured the win, as he kicked a 20-yard field goal to conclude the first overtime and complete a comeback everyone wearing green and yellow will remember for a long time.
“I had it in the back of my head, ‘If I miss this, our season could be done,’ but I work on this every day in practice,” Polley said. “I mean, it’s a 20-yard field goal. If I can’t make that, then I shouldn’t be kicking.”
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