Elizabeth Forward ekes out last-second win vs. North Catholic

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, November 8, 2024 | 11:48 PM

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After a shootout in the first half between No. 3 Elizabeth Forward and No. 11 North Catholic, why not have the game come down to the final seconds?

Luckily for the Warriors, they had the ball last and it was sophomore Luke Holdren playing the hero as his 25-yard field goal as time expired gave Elizabeth Forward a thrilling 45-42 come-from-behind victory over the Trojans to advance to the WPIAL semifinals next week in one of the top WPIAL games of the night.

“As soon as that offsides call on them happened, I knew it was just meant to be,” Holdren said. The kick was moved from a 30-yard to a 25-yard attempt after the infraction on the Trojans.

“There’s no doubt there’s a higher power up there. I have to thank my holder Aaron Ulmer and long snapper Ryan Dolekary. Without those guys, that kick doesn’t happen. That’s my first game-winning kick. I’m pretty pumped about it sending us to the semifinals.”

Holdren’s winning kick was set up by timely defense from the Warriors in the final minutes.

After Ryan Messina’s 1-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 98-yard drive with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining, the Warriors faced a Trojans offense that gashed them most of the night, especially through the air.

North Catholic quarterback Joey Felitsky completed a 9-yard pass to Ryker Kennedy to set up a second-and-1 at midfield, but the Trojans went backwards from there.

A false start made it second-and-6 before Buffalo commit Chris Climes and Daymein Rice combined to sack Felitsky for a loss of 8 yards to make it third-and-14.

Felitsky rolled right to avoid pressure from the Warriors, only to throw the ball high and right into the arms of EF’s AJ Grese for an interception at midfield.

“Our defensive line has really played good all year,” EF coach John DeMarco said. “Chris is a special player, and that whole unit has stood out. He made the plays when he had to. That’s what great players do.”

After Grese’s interception, the Warriors had 1:47 to go and put the ball in the hands of Charlie Nigut, who carried the load all night for Elizabeth Forward (8-3), finishing with 36 carries for 269 yards and four touchdowns.

He carried four times for 32 yards as the Warriors marched into position for Holdren’s winning kick.

“We felt like we were going to be able to run the ball on them, and that helped us keep their offense off the field,” DeMarco said. “Charlie knows he’s going to get the bulk of the carries. Any time you put the ball in Charlie’s hands or put the game on his back, you know you don’t have to worry about it. That kid is a warrior in and out.”

It was Nigut finding success early, finishing with all four of his touchdowns in the first half. He scored on a 38-yard run to open the scoring before scoring on an 18-yard scamper on the Warriors’ next drive.

“I knew I was going to get a lot of the workload,” Nigut said. “I prepared myself for it all week, and my linemen up front blocked a great game for me. I can’t thank them enough.”

For every punch thrown by the Warriors, the Trojans offense had an answer, mostly thanks to Felitsky.

The junior quarterback completed 19 of 28 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns to go along with the pivotal interceptions.

After Nigut’s opening touchdown, Felitsky led a drive of 65 yards on 14 plays that ended with Tommy Arth scoring from the wildcat on an 8-yard run.

The Warriors responded quickly when Ryan Messina hit Grese for a 39-yard gain, and Nigut ran it in on the next play from the 18.

“They were doing a good job of blocking with all our movement,” North Catholic coach Chris Rizzo said. “That’s something we changed up after the half by going with more of our base stuff. They were able to hit us with the seams that were opening up.”

Felitsky cashed in on the ensuing drive, finding tight end Joe Safar on a 73-yard pass down the right sideline that helped tie the score14-14.

Each team added a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter with Logan Schade giving the Trojans a 21-14 lead after a 58-yard touchdown run before Nigut answered with a 2-yard plunge to tie it again.

The Trojans (5-7) drove deep into Warriors’ territory on the next drive, but out of the wildcat, Arth pulled up for a jump pass that was tipped by EF’s Logan Rider right into the hands of Nigut for an interception.

The Warriors drove 78 yards, 53 of them on the wheels of Nigut, to score again on a Nigut 4-yard run.

Felitsky and the Trojans stormed right back down the field as leading receiver Kennedy made his first catch of the game, a 19-yard touchdown, with 19 seconds to go in the half to send the teams to the locker room even at 28-28.

“It’s not very often that you face a team with four, five good receivers,” DeMarco said. “We were a little surprised they were moving the ball on us as well as they did. They posed some matchup problems for us. We knew when they won last week that we were going to have some issues with them.”

The Warriors defense got a stop on the opening drive of the second half, and the offense rewarded them with points, a Messina 1-yard run to make it 35-28.

But Felitsky answered again, completing six passes during a 15-play, 78-yard drive that ended with Arth bullying his way into the end zone for a 1-yard score.

The score remained tied after three.

The Trojans took a 42-35 lead with an Arth 3-yard run following Felitsky hitting Will Waskiewicz for a 30-yard gain down to the Warriors’ 11.

Both teams exchanged punts with Felitsky pooch-kicking the ball to the Warriors’ 2-yard line to set up EF’s long drive.

“Give (EF) credit, they did a lot of good things in the second half,” Rizzo said. “But we had some self-inflicted wounds. We put ourself behind the sticks. If you want to play championship football, you have to limit the mistakes.

“Joey had a wonderful season, and we put the ball in his hands all year. He threw that interception, but we weren’t going to go any other place with that. We trusted the guy to get us to this spot. He’s a great quarterback.”

The teams combined for 995 yards of total offense. Of that, 505 belonged to the Warriors. They ran the ball for 419 yards, including 94 by Messina and 56 by Grese.

Passing, Messina was 5 of 10 for 86 yards.

“We talked about getting to this point after we lost at Gateway in the semifinals last year,” DeMarco said. “This is all we talked about, getting back to this level. We all know what’s out there. In this game, I think we got caught looking forward a little bit. Not to take anything away from them, but I think we were looking forward to next week a bit.”

Next week, the Warriors will face No. 2 Central Valley with a trip to Acrisure Stadium on the line in the semifinals.

Tags: Elizabeth Forward, North Catholic