St. Joseph by-the-Sea head coach Mike Corona had already sent his kicker -- Kyle Gaor — onto the field to try to kick a 42-yard field goal Saturday with his winless team trailing 35-34 with 1.8 seconds remaining in a CHSFL AA home encounter against St. John the Baptist.
That’s when sophomore quarterback Jackson Tucker went over to his head coach to try to talk him out of it during the Vikings’ final timeout.
“Kyle was telling us on the field he didn’t know if he could make it or not,” said Tucker. “It would been a tough kick.”
In the end, Corona listened to his signal-caller, and what happened after that was nothing short of miraculous as Tucker heaved a 25-yard Hail Mary pass to the back corner of the left end zone that was pulled down by 6-foot-3 senior receiver Ryan Simermeyer, giving the Vikings their first win of the season (40-35) in six games.
The final-play heroics enabled Tucker and Simermeyer to earn SILive.com and Advance’s HS Football Player of the Week honors. Teammate Aidan Ryan, who had a pair of 80-yard kickoff returns during the game which saw Sea rally from a 28-6 halftime deficit also earned the same honors.
Courtesy of Sea football
A wing and a prayer
"I saw they had just swapped out personnel with a much shorter defensive back so I told coach that we should go for it," said the 5-foot-11, 165-pound Tucker of his talk with Corona.
Actually, the original play that was called wasn't even designed to go to Simermeyer.
"We were looking to throw to (sophomore receiver) n Vazquez on a slant pattern," said Tucker.
But like with anything this season for Sea, you know it wasn't go to be that easy.
And it wasn't.
In the photo above, from left, are Sea players Aidan Ryan, Jackson Tucker and Ryan Simermeyer.
Courtesy of Sea football
A great scramble and throw
Tucker looked to throw to Vazquez and felt the pressure from his right side so the righty-throwing QB scrambled to his left.
"I saw (Simermeyer) was streaking to the back of the end zone and I just threw it up," said Tucker.
"Actually it was pretty rough," said Simermeyer. "I was on a drag play and then I saw Jackson scrambling the other way so I ran back in his direction and headed to the end zone.
"Actually, there were three defenders there. One of them was pulling me down as I was jumping."
Courtesy of Sea football
Goes up over three defenders
The 180-pound Simermeyer, whose first TD reception of the game three minutes prior, pulled Sea within 35-34, used his height and big frame to go up and grab the ball.
"I actually had one hand on the ball at first but then I got the second hand on it and fell to the ground," explained Simermeyer. "Everything went quiet on the play., I was kind of shocked it happened. Honestly, I said to myself, Holy (expletive deleted).'
Courtesy of Sea football
'I couldn't believe it'
But it still didn't sink in for Simermeyer.
"The way our season was going I thought there would be a flag or call (against us). Then I saw everyone running to me and I couldn't believe it."
Courtesy of Sea football
Aidan Ryan to the rescue
Meanwhile, Ryan, a running back, had the best view of the play as he was in the backfield on the Hail Mary and delivered a key block which enabled Tucker to scramble.
"Tucker just told me to block for him before the play started," said the junior. "I threw a block on the guy blitzing and when Sim came down with the ball I was in disbelief."
Prior to that, Ryan had two 80-yard kickoff returns that went for TDs. The first came on the second-half kickoff, which gave the Vikings new life.
Courtesy of Sea football
Breakaway speed
"On the first one, I got good blocking and I duped a guy and got to the sideline and kept going," said Ryan.
"On the second, I broke a tackle and ran down the sideline."
It was the first two kickoff scores in the 5-10, 165-pounder's varsity career.
"I've had some big returns before, but I never scored he said. "I'm glad it happened in this game. It was pretty good timing."
Courtesy of Sea football
Happy returns for Vikings
When asked if the Hail Mary could be a turning point for the Vikings, Simermeyer said, "This could be the spark that gets us going. We need to win our last two games to get into the playoffs. I know these guys have worked hard and we won't settle for anything less."
In the photo above, Aidan Ryan scores on one of his 80-yard kickoff returns.
HUDL
Watch the Hail Mary play here
OMG, What a play!
Courtesy of Sea football
A huge win
Sea's record is 1-5 and the Vikings need to win their final two games to have a chance at making the CHSFL AA playoffs.
Staten Island Advance/Derek Alvez
Check back next week
Check back next week for the next installment of the SILive.com HS Player of the Week.
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