After falling behind early, the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment overcame a 13-point deficit Wednesday against 11th Engineer Battalion Team 2, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left to get the 21-15 win at Essebagger Field.
1-19 defensive back Antonio Alexander’s second interception of the night thwarted a potential game-clinching drive by the Engineers and gave his team a first down on its 15-yard line.
With 1:39 remaining and trailing 15-13, 1-19 marched 65 yards to score the go-ahead touchdown. Two passes from quarterback Philip Richards to Chris Mendoza propelled the drive. Mendoza took the ball to the 7-yard line of the Engineers and two plays later, Richards ran in for the score off a quarterback draw.
“I would attribute the comeback to teamwork,” 1-19 team captain John Brady said. “We stopped them and then got the ball down the field. The key was to mix it up. We had a good running game … and going for that last touchdown we changed it up and opened up the passing game.”
The Engineers scored their two touchdowns in the first 11 minutes of the game. Quarterback Venson Jenkins found Leroi Pierre for a 17-yard touchdown pass and, after the Engineers defense forced a punt, Jenkins hit Jonathan Washington on a deep post during the next drive for a 68-yard score.
The rest of the game, however, belonged to the 1-19 defense, which did not allow an offensive point after that while forcing three interceptions.
“We had a couple of breakdowns,” 1-19’s Michael Boganowski said. “They created some mismatches and we didn’t switch … but we changed it.”
Perhaps the most crucial of 1-19’s interceptions came midway through the second half. A pass by Jenkins was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Brady, who turned upfield for a big return.
“The guy to my left was able to get to the quarterback and get his hands up and tip the ball, and I was following right behind him and able to capitalize,” Brady said.
On the ensuing drive, Richards found his tight end from 3 yards away to make the score 15-13, which it remained after 1-19 failed a two-point conversion attempt.
With the win, 1-19 improved to 3-0 while 11th Engineer Battalion Team 2 fell to 2-1.
