Serra gambles and wins with long touchdown pass

By ADAM BREWER

MVI Sports

An aggressive approach paid off for Serra Catholic in Friday’s Class 2A quarterfinal matchup against McGuffey.

The Highlanders missed a field goal with 50 seconds left and the game tied, and two plays later quarterback Max Rocco hit Jayvon Holt in stride for a 68-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 21-14 victory.

“It’s been a different season for us and we just battled the whole night,” Rocco said. “We felt disrespected by our (No. 7) seed, and our main goal was to beat McGuffey. We kept our cool and on that last play I knew it was going to work.”

It’s been a very unique season for Serra, which played only four games in the regular season and entered Friday on a 21-day layoff.

Rocco threw for 283 passing yards and led the Eagles to 14 points in the final 11 minutes.

“We had to take it one play at a time,” Serra coach Jose Regus said. “We displayed composure all night and stuck to the game plan. McGuffey likes to run and chew the clock, but we held up. Our offense made enough plays through the air, and we got our momentum back in the second half.”

Trailing 14-7 with 10:56 left to play, the Eagles (5-0) rallied to tie the game when Rocco found Terrell Booth for a 5-yard score with 5:57 remaining.

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