When Nazareth’s Charlie Hayes hauled in his fourth touchdown pass of the game from Dario Sierra, this one a 55-yarder to give the Roadrunners a 42-27 lead over Saint Patrick with 7:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, things looked bleak for the Shamrocks. Saint Patrick rallied with three unanswered touchdowns, the final two coming in the last 26 seconds of the fourth quarter for an unbelievable 47-42 victory. Saint Patrick upped their record to 4-1 on the year, while Nazareth fell to 2-3

Nazareth scored the first points of the game when Sierra hit Hayes for a 30-yard score to make it 6-0. Brian Ruiz returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards to make it 7-6 Shamrocks. The Roadrunners’ Steve Gray ran the ball in from five yards out to make it 14-7 Roadrunners at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter featured five touchdown passes and an hour and five minute delay for lightning. Tom Barrett hit Matt Ledenbach down the right side for a 34-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14. Sierra the led Nazareth on a seven play, 75-yard drive, capped by an 11-yard Sierra to Hayes pass. Dan O’Donnell took a swing pass from Barrett for a 59-yard touchdown to knot the game at 21. Barrett hit Ledenbach again, this time from 18-yards out to make it 27-21 in favor of the Shamrocks. On the last play of the half, Sierra heaved the ball down the right side, and Hayes pulled it down for a 51-yard touchdown and a 28-27 lead for Nazareth at the half.

The third quarter was pretty uneventful, until the final play, when Sierra hit David Murphy for a 58-yard score. The snap on the point after squirted through the holder’s hands, and kicker Nick Disanto picked it up and hit Kevin Porter with a pass for two points to make it 36-27 at the end of three quarters.

With 7:29 to play in the fourth quarter the Roadrunners went up 42-27 on Sierra’s fifth touchdown pass of the game. At this point Nazareth had scored 21 straight points, and the Shamrock offense had mustered only 27 yards on four possessions in the second half. Consecutive penalties against the Roadrunners forced them to kickoff from their own 20. The short kick was fielded by Adrian Mendoza and returned to the Nazareth 41, giving Saint Patrick a short field to start their comeback. Barrett hit Ledenbach for a 21-yard gain down the middle, and then hit him again in the right corner for his third score of the day. Chris Gasiorek’s extra point brought the Shamrocks within one eight at 42-34. The Shamrock defense then got a big stop. Nazareth was forced to punt from the Shamrock 41. A botched snap and a hurried punt gave Saint Patrick the ball at their own 39 with 1:40 remaining and no time outs. Barrett connected twice each with Ledenbach and Joey Walker to give the Shamrocks first and goal at the Nazareth two-yard line. Following two incomplete passes, O’Donnell crashed over the left side of the line for the touchdown. Needing the two-point conversion to tie with 26 seconds left in the game, Saint Patrick went with the same play. This time O’Donnell was stopped short and the Roadrunners clung to a 42-40 lead.

Gasiorek’s onside kick skidded through the right side of Nazareth’s front line and was recovered by the Shamrocks at the Roadrunner 44. Barrett hit Ledenbach for 26 yards over the middle, giving Saint Patrick first and 10 at the Nazareth 18. In position for a game-winning field goal by Gasiorek, the Shamrocks took a shot at the end zone. Barrett lobbed the ball down the left sideline, and Paul Lombardi leapt up to haul it in for the game-winning touchdown. The Saint Patrick side of the field exploded as the Shamrocks took a 47-42 lead with only 10 seconds remaining.

The game proved to be a shootout between two outstanding quarterbacks as Barrett finished the game 19 of 34 for 315 yards and five touchdowns, and Sierra threw for 352 yards and five scores. Ledenbach finished with eight catches for 168 yards and three touchdowns, while Hayes caught nine balls for 226 yards and four touchdowns. Nazareth beat Saint Patrick in every statistical category, rolling up 562 yards of offense and 23 first downs, but the rallying ‘rocks found a way to win in the end.