Thursday night against Chaminade Julienne it almost happened again. After a short CJ punt, McDonald ran 28 yards to score on the Knights' first play of the game. The next time the Knights had the ball, McDonald ran 81 yards for a touchdown on the Knights' second play. On the third possession, quarterback Brian Shane waited a few plays before scoring on a 69-yard run.
“The first time I’ve ever seen that in 49 years of coaching was two weeks ago,” Domsitz said. “And I almost saw it again tonight. It’s crazy.”
The Knights rode that three-touchdown lead to a 49-21 victory over the Eagles in the final game of the regular season that has been shortened to six games because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When you play a team like Alter – first off all they’re a really good football team – you can’t make it easy for them,” CJ coach Marcus Colvin said. “That’s the worst thing you can do. It’s my 21st Alter game I’ve coached in. The MO is if you make it easy on them, they’re going to take you to the rafters.”
McDonald also had a 35-yard touchdown run early in the second half for a combined 144 yards on those three runs. McDonald rushed for 279 yards against Carroll and probably surpassed 200 against CJ. Final statistics were not available after the game.
“It’s just second instinct,” McDonald said. “I’ve been doing this since I was 4.”
McDonald played with 6-year-olds when he was 4 – another thing rarely seen on a football field. Now he’s a 6-foot-1, 208-pound senior and picking on guys his own age and size.
“I was always a little bigger,” he said. “Some people had to pull out my birth certificate because they thought I was just a little bit older. But really I’m one of the youngest in my grade.”
After starting the season with a rare two-game losing streak in which they led both times in the fourth quarter, the Knights (4-2) have won four straight games.
“You’ve got to be able to overcome that as you progress through the season and our kids have been able to do that,” Domsitz said. “We’ve been able to move the football, our defense has picked up, we just seem to make fewer mistakes.”
Alter earned a first-round bye in the playoffs that have been expanded to allow every team in. The Knights are the No. 6 seed in Division III, Region 12. They will host the winner of next Friday’s game between No. 11 Dunbar and No. 22 Cincinnati Aiken.
“There’s so many things that can happen in any ballgame,” Domsitz said. “The playoffs with the pressure, the excitement, we’ve got to be able to perform. We’re going to see some pretty good football teams in that bracket.”
Colvin is looking forward to the experience his young team can gain by being in the playoffs. In any other season, the Eagles (2-4) were not on pace to make the playoffs. Instead, they are the No. 16 seed and will host No. 17 Cincinnati Northwest at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I feel great about our opportunity,” Colvin said. “We play in a tough league. I think it prepares us. We’ve been battle tested.”
Despite the 21-0 hole, Colvin’s team was resilient. The Eagles cut their deficit to 21-14 on Luke Chandler touchdown passes of one yard and 25 yards to Kenyon Owens. The Knights, however, closed the half with Shane’s 56-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Connor. That momentum carried into the second half.
“We just didn’t have the gas, the energy to play with that football team tonight,” Colvin said. “We learned a little bit about ourselves that we’re not that caliber of team right now, but it’s something to look forward to for us to continue to work to be.”
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