TOWSON — For Noah Bull, it was a dream come true.
The Loyola Blakefield wide receiver got behind his Calvert Hall defender and deftly caught the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds remaining in the Dons’ thrilling 41-35 victory in the 101st Turkey Bowl before an announced 8,165 at Towson University.
Loyola snapped a six-game losing streak to Calvert Hall and now leads the all-time series 50-43-8.
“It was electric,” Bull said. “To beat our rivalry team and it’s been so long since we won a Turkey Bowl, and to have the game-winning touchdown, you could not ask for anything better. It’s every kid’s dream to catch that game-winning touchdown and I got that opportunity.”
Loyola linebacker Anto Saka, who is committed to Northwestern, finished with three sacks.
Rahkeem Smith scored three touchdowns for Calvert Hall.
Dons quarterback Marcus Hines, who also scored three touchdowns, put together the spectacular game-winning drive in the final seconds.
“It feels great. It’s been a long time but we did it,” Hines said.
Loyola (9-3) lost to Concordia Prep, 14-3, in Sunday’s MIAA B Conference championship game. The coaches and players immediately “flushed” that game to focus on their archrivals.
“Saturday night after the game, once we left the field, we flushed it and got ready for this game,” Hines said.
The Dons started fast and ran out to a 20-7 lead on a 34-yard run by Micah Robinson with 1:38 left in the first quarter. It was the first time Loyola led against Calvert Hall (9-3) since 2014.
However, the Cardinals fought back and took its first lead, 21-20, when Corey Broome strip-sacked Hines and Dylan Aguilera recovered the ball. Calvert Hall scored on the next play when Smith ran for a 20-yard score.
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Calvert Hall kept the momentum going on the first possession on a short pass from Noah Brannock to Donnie Lewis who scored on the 53-yard catch-and-run for a 28-20 lead. It was Lewis’ eighth touchdown of the season.
Brannock then threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Smith for a 35-28 with 8:15 remaining in the game. Brannock finished with 286 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception.
Loyola faced a fourth-and-4 with 3:23 left and Hines threw a 36-yard pass to Jayden Moore to the 1-yard line. Hines ran for a score on the next play and tied the game 35-35 with 2:54 left.
The Dons had a key stop on the next possession and regained the ball with just under two minutes left.
Loyola marched into Calvert Hall territory and was prepared to attempt a game-winning field goal. However, Hines had other plans and found Bull for the 15-yard game-winning score with nine seconds left.
The Cardinals were coming off an emotional 14-8 victory over McDonogh on Saturday to claim its first Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title since 2010.
However, this loss was incredibly deflating.
“They’re a good team. They’re an A Conference team,” Calvert Hall coach Josh Ward said. ‘They showed it today, and hopefully, they’ll be joining us next year in the A Conference. Take a high school team and play two games in five days after winning a championship in the A Conference. That’s tough for anybody.”
Loyola coach Anthony Zehyoue said, “That was an incredible high school football game. We had ups, downs, highs, lows. We did some good stuff. We did some terrible stuff. I think our players knew we had to stay the course.
“The thing about a rivalry is you need to stop the bleeding. If you don’t, then there’s another year of players who have the belief that we can’t beat Calvert Hall. That’s why this is so critical,” Zehyoue said.
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