West Canaan
With 3:28 remaining in the first half and his team up 24-0, McAllister somehow managed to simultaneously block and recover a punt attempt by the Royals’ Adidas Murphy. The ensuing 25-yard return gave the defending NHIAA Division III state champions extra insurance against the overmatched Royals (0-1) in the season opener for both teams.
McAllister, who finished with three touchdowns and three 2-point conversions to go with 104 rushing yards, described his miraculous play after the Cardinals improved to 1-0.
“(Associate head) Coach (Erik) Anderson, he told us to run a block, so I found the hole and I just ran up as fast as I could,” McAllister said. “I saw that he was going to kick it, so I jumped up and it just landed in my stomach. I grabbed it and started running. … I thought I was just going to block it, I didn’t know I was going to catch it like that.”
The Cardinals got off to a quick start on Saturday thanks to an interception by Derrick Stanhope.
The junior picked off Mascoma quarterback Hawk Shawn on third down of the Royals’ opening offensive series.
Stevens QB Quentin Bicknell then handed the ball to McAllister four consecutive times, producing 30 yards before the visitors turned to senior Joe Desilets, who rushed for 6, then 3 yards en route to a touchdown. McAllister followed by running in a 2-point conversion; he ran a touchdown and another 2-point conversion near the end of the first quarter.
Desilets added his second rushing touchdown midway through the second quarter.
The Royals’ punting woes continued late in the first half when they were pinned against their own end zone following a three-and-out. Murphy had to reach for a high snap and stepped across the end zone’s back line, resulting in a safety.
After being told by head coach Les Lawrence to forget about the scoreboard and just get better in the second half, Mascoma came out with a glimmer of hope as Sean Rostron recovered a Damon Roy fumble and returned it for 8 yards. The Royals’ momentum was extinguished on the following play, however, as Shawn threw a 65-yard pick-six to Stevens’ Baylor Rozzell.
Roy made up for his fumble with a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown, effectively icing the cake for his team.
Mascoma, a young and undersized team compared to Stevens, stayed in the fight, ultimately manufacturing a sole touchdown to thwart the visitors’ shutout bid.
Shawn deftly evaded a would-be sacker and scrambled for 20 yards in the final play of the third quarter. A chip-away-at-the-stone drive followed, with rushes by Murphy, Tyler David, Collin Cacciatore and Alex Howe. Caleb McAlister culminated the 10-play drive — which featured five first downs — with a short burst into the Cardinal end zone. Murphy kicked the extra point.
“I think that was really important for our program to get a score,” Lawrence said.
Unfortunately for McAlister, Saturday’s action was both his first and last of the season. The junior captain, who wore a hard brace against Stevens, will have season-ending thumb surgery this week.
“It wasn’t going to get any worse,” Lawrence said. “It was just a matter of if he could deal with the discomfort and obviously, he did. He started both ways for us and very rarely came off the ball. It’s going to be a big loss for our program.”
Stevens looked like a well-oiled machine — fresh off claiming the school’s first football championship banner since 1968 — and seventh-year head coach Paul Silva seemed impressed.
“What I liked today was our execution,” Silva said. “I thought we ran a bunch of different formations, we got set, we ran them right. I’m happy with execution for the first week, we can certainly clean some things up, but I asked them to get physical against a double-wing team, which pounds the ball at you.
“I thought we did a nice job controlling the line of scrimmage and that’s how you win football games.”
Echoed Lawrence: “We knew their line was good and you have a good line, you can do a lot of things,” he said. “They had five really big guys and one of those big guys was a monster, size-wise. We don’t have that kind of size, we’re a small team.”
The monster was No. 77, Phillip Mason, the Cardinals’ 6-foot-5, 345-pound offensive tackle and defensive nose guard.
Count Stevens’ McAllister among those appreciative of his teammates on the line of scrimmage.
“Our offensive line did exactly what they needed to,” McAllister said.
“They blocked perfectly, made wide open holes for us running backs. … When we execute that well, we can do anything against any team. It’s just what we can do. It’s our football.”