St. Thomas football comes back to knock Hollis Brookline out of D2 playoffs

AMHERST - The St. Thomas Aquinas football team displayed playoff-level resilience to earn a 43-36 comeback win over Hollis Brookline Sunday at Souhegan High School.

The Cavaliers (5-4), who needed to win to qualify for the Division II tournament, scored the game’s first 22 points over their first three drives and led, 28-22, at halftime.

St. Thomas (8-1), which will be the No. 2 seed in the D2 playoffs, took its first lead on the opening drive of the second half and never looked back.

HB trailed, 43-36, with two minutes remaining, when it began its final drive in its own territory. The possession started with a poor snap that led to a sack and ended three plays later with a Sander Wimmer incompletion on a fourth-and-29 play.

“Our kids have responded all year,” Saints coach Ryan Brown said. “It says a lot about their character. It says a lot about the leadership in the group. They’ve responded to every challenge thus far.”

The Saints marched 62 yards on eight plays on their first second-half drive, capping it with a game-tying 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shawn DeKorne to Will MacLean. Kyle Devost made the ensuing point-after kick to give St. Thomas its first lead at 29-28 with 7:38 remaining in the third quarter.

DeKorne, a senior captain, connected with MacLean (seven receptions, 136 yards) for a 2-yard score before the end of the third frame to give the Saints a 36-28 lead entering the fourth quarter.

HB turned the ball over on two interceptions and went three-and-out over its three third-quarter drives.

“We didn’t make enough plays. That’s all,” Cavaliers coach Chris Lones said. “We had them on the ropes early and took our foot off the gas a little bit. (St. Thomas) made plays. We knew they were going to make plays and middle of the game - second and third quarter - we didn’t play so well.”

A 42-yard touchdown pass from DeKorne (26 for 42, 413 yards) to Edwin Estevez (13 receptions, 150 yards) with 7:47 left capped St. Thomas’ scoring. The score marked DeKorne’s sixth touchdown pass.

HB responded with a 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Wimmer, a junior, to his twin brother, Quinten (five catches, 145 yards), to pull the Cavaliers within seven points.

Sander Wimmer (15-for-20, 198 yards) connected with Chad Brown for a 3-yard touchdown with 2:28 remaining in the first half to break a 22-22 deadlock. The three-play, 10-yard scoring drive was set up by Quinten Wimmer, who recovered a fumble after MacLean muffed a fair-catch attempt on a Cavaliers punt.

DeKorne tossed first-half touchdown passes to Jack Benelli (11 yards), Hunter Lassard (25 yards) and Kevin Zheng to help his team tie the game. Zheng caught a 16-yard touchdown from DeKorne with 5:38 left in the first half to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 22-20. DeKorne followed up by connecting with MacLean for a 2-point conversion to draw St. Thomas even.

“They punched us in the mouth, obviously,” DeKorne said. “A bunch of us were starting to give up and I was like, ‘Hey, let’s get one drive in and let’s keep rolling like we usually do.’ And that’s what happened.”

HB opened the game’s scoring with 9:35 left in the first quarter, when Brandon Iodice ran in from 11 yards out. Sander Wimmer ran in a 10-yard TD and connected with his twin brother for a 26-yard score on the Cavaliers’ following two drives to help build the 22-0 advantage. Sander Wimmer also ran and threw for a 2-point conversion in the first half.

Benelli made nine catches for 86 yards. Lassard ran 14 times for a team-high 65 yards. MacLean, Bouchard and Zheng each made an interception on defense.

“I’m glad we had this because No. 1, we played a good team right before playoffs,” DeKorne said. “And No. 2, (being) down 22-0 and coming back and still winning ... That really shows what we’ve got as a team. We don't give up and we’re ready for playoffs.”