Nolan Catholic pulls away from All Saints thanks to four second-half touchdown runs

Led by quarterback Jimmy Taylor, host Nolan Catholic broke open a close game in the second half Friday night, beating All Saints 42-21 to remain unbeaten.

Taylor ran for touchdowns of 26 and 15 yards back-to-back in the third quarter, as the Vikings (9-0, 3-0 in TAPPS – Division I, District 1) came from behind at the half to win. The first of those scores tied the game at 14, and the second gave Nolan the lead for good, 21-14, with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

But it was through the air that the junior did the most damage. He was 15 of 20 for 152 yards and no interceptions. He also completed his first nine passes.

Taylor left early in the fourth quarter due to injury with his team leading 28-21. Nolan got two more late touchdowns after that.

Until then, though, All Saints was giving the fourth-ranked area team on the Star-Telegram’s list of Class 4A/Other schools all it could handle.

All Saints led 14-7 at halftime thanks to some gambles on fourth down and an onside kickoff.

The Saints (5-3, 3-0) took the opening kickoff and drove 71 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead. Workhorse Jacob Matlock took it in from the 2-yard line for the touchdown. The Saints mixed it up with five running plays and four passes.

After the subsequent kickoff, Nolan nearly drove the length of the field from its 25 in 10 plays. But a goal-line stand by All Saints prevented the Vikings from scoring. Nolan had first-and-goal at the 8-yard line, but an illegal procedure penalty pushed the Vikings back to the 13, and Taylor eventually failed to convert on a fourth-and-goal run from the 2.

Penalties hurt Nolan in the first half. The Vikings were tagged for six penalties for 45 yards. All Saints committed no infractions in the first half but then had nine for 83 yards in the second half. In all, Nolan racked up 10 penalties for 100 yards.

The Vikings got the ball back only two plays after being held on downs when Keontae Williams came away with an interception near the sideline at the Saints’ 33. From there, on the first play from scrimmage, Taylor found Irene Ngabonziza deep in the back of the end zone for the touchdown to tie it at 7, still in the first quarter.

All Saints took the lead 14-7 after converting twice on fourth down. The Saints went for it on fourth down seven times during the game, converting three time. Nolan converted one of three fourth-down attempts on the night.

On the touchdown drive that gave them the lead, facing fourth-and-14, the Saints lined up to punt from their 31-yard line. Instead, T. Love threw a 19-yard pass to Peyton Kramer for a first down. Moments later, confronted with a fourth-and-one at the Nolan 25, Matlock broke through the line for four yards and a first down. Three plays later, the senior scored from the 1-yard line to cap off a 12-play, 80-yard drive.

Then, on the ensuing kickoff, All Saints again rolled the dice and surprised Nolan by recovering an onside kick at the Nolan 41. The drive did not produce points, as All Saints failed to convert a fourth-and-two. But the Saints took enough time off the clock to leave Nolan with only 1:01 left before halftime at its own 23-yard line.

However, on the opening drive of the second half, Nolan promptly drove 63 yards in four plays with Taylor getting the first of his two touchdown runs to take control. Emeka Megwa also got a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 68 and 63 yards.

All Saints’ Donshay Douglas did return a kickoff 74 yards early in the fourth quarter to make it a one-score game, 28-21, before two late touchdowns by Nolan.

This story was originally published November 2, 2019 at 12:17 AM.