Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Sterling wins on Mignano's OT run

The football was high in the air as the person holding it, Matt Mignano, got swallowed up by his teammates.

Quarterback Matt Mignano (12) holds the ball aloft as he scores the winning touchdown.
Quarterback Matt Mignano (12) holds the ball aloft as he scores the winning touchdown.Read moreRON TARVER / Staff Photographer

The football was high in the air as the person holding it, Matt Mignano, got swallowed up by his teammates.

It stayed in No. 12's sure hands as the senior quarterback and the rest of his Sterling teammates celebrated a 27-21 overtime win over rival Collingswood on Thanksgiving Day.

Mignano took the snap on the 3-yard line and kept the ball, following his tough offensive line and finding the end zone to give his team the victory - the program's fourth straight over the Panthers.

The football stayed in his hands throughout the celebration and was cradled in his left arm as the team took a knee to hear from coach Clint Wiley.

"You keep that forever," Wiley said, telling him to remember what it felt like to score the winning touchdown.

As far as Mignano was concerned, though, he wasn't going to get the ball in that late situation. Not inside the 5 with the game knotted at 21.

The ball would be going to senior running back Davon Tucker, he thought. With a team-record 1,455 yards this season, 20 touchdowns this year, and 167 yards for the day, the Western Michigan recruit was the obvious choice to try to win the game for the Silver Knights (6-4).

Mignano thought so.

The Panthers (7-4) probably thought so.

But that's not what happened.

"I didn't see it coming," Mignano said. "Davon's been our guy all year - he's been the guy the past two years - so I expected him to get the ball.

"When the call was made," he added, "I was excited but, at the same time, didn't know what to expect."

After the postgame huddle, and the seniors' posing for a picture with Wiley, the ball hadn't left Mignano's hands for more than 15 minutes.

He went over to the stands and handed it to his father, Anthony.

"I told him he could keep it," Mignano said with a big smile.

No doubt his father will keep it forever, just as Wiley instructed.

Sterling 14 7 0 0 6 – 27

Collingswood 7 0 14 0 0 – 21

S: Davon Tucker 12 run (Jurgen Bocoj kick)

C: Marcquon Lawrence 59 run (Kevin Walters kick)

S: Joe Matchett 51 pass from Matt Mignano (Bocoj kick)

S: Tucker 2 run (Bocoj kick)

C: Lawrence 42 run (Walters kick)

C: Isaac Destin 6 pass from Jordan Wallace (Walters kick)

S: Mignano 3 run (no attempt)