The St. Thomas More Knights second-half magic was almost enough against the championship-bound Vancouver College Fighting Irish.
STM scored five second-half touchdowns but wound up on the losing end of a 42-40 decision to the Irish in the semifinals of the B.C. high school AAA football playoffs at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium Saturday.
The Knights' final TD was the stuff legends are made of.
Behind by eight points and with just 35 ticks left on the game clock, quarterback Chase Malcolm, who was temporarily sidelined by a punishing tackle while standing in the pocket to pass earlier in the quarter, threw a 34-yard touchdown strike into the end zone to Malcolm Lee to close the deficit to two points. STM's two-point conversion run by Elliott Nelson was stacked up just shy of the end line.
"We didn't get it though. It was two years ago in the exact same semifinal game," Malcolm said, referring to the Knights' playoff loss to Vancouver College in the junior varsity semi-final.
"After all the great comebacks we've had this season, we knew we could do that again."
But Lady Luck was on the side of the Irish again this time.
Trailing 21-7 at halftime, the Knights rallied to tie the score 28-28 on Elliott Nelson's second of three rushing touchdowns just seconds before the end of the third quarter.
The Irish regained the lead, but STM got the ball back after a poor punt gave the Knights excellent field position.
Jalen Jana, who rushed for 88 yards, scored on a three-yard run, but the extra point was missed following a high snap from centre.
STM got the ball right back, when Nelson recovered the Knights' second on-side kick of the game. But the drive inside the Irish half stalled inside the 30-yard line.
"This has happened to us a bit this year, but our defence stepped up and kept giving us chances," said Malcolm, who was good on 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards.
Malcolm also ran for 84 yards, including a 30-yard scramble for a touchdown that sparked the second-half comeback.
Lee caught five passes for nearly half of the Knights' total yardage through the air.
Javier Tudela had three solo quarterback sacks from his safety position, while sharing in a fourth with all-conference lineman Nico Repole.
Conference defensive player of the year Dante Vigini contributed on offense as well with four catches for 54 yards for the Knights.
Anthony Carteir recovered a live ball off an STM punt that also led to a third-quarter score.
But having to dig themselves out of a first-half hole was a factor said STM head coach Bernie Kully. "It hurt us. . But nobody quit. . We competed and we battled. But we came out short."
Kully also had praise for his Grade 11 quarterback, who had the trainers working on him after the big hit.
"We asked him, 'Can you go back in?' and he was begging to go in. It was a heck of a completion, and a heck of a pass," Kully added.
College will play defending champion Mt. Douglas, 41-15 semifinal winner over W.J. Mouat) in the AAA final at B.C. Place on Saturday. Game time for the AAA final is scheduled for 7 p.m.
