It was a tale of two halves for the Flyers in their quarterfinal matchup at Monsignor Farrell on Friday night. After spotting the Lions a touchdown lead at halftime, Chaminade was buoyed by a game-changing Jacob Mahmood fumble recovery on the second-half kickoff to flip momentum and put the Flyers on the path to 14-7 victory. With the win, Chaminade advanced to a semifinal showdown against the Iona Prep Gaels on Saturday.

On a chilly and windy Friday night, both squads began play rather consistently, as the teams traded punts on the first four drives of the game. Peter Gerbasi broke off a pair of 15-yard runs for the Flyers and QB Tim Murphy tried to establish a connection with WR Michael Dietrich, but the horn sounded to end the first quarter with both teams knotted at zero.

The start of the second quarter was more of the same - a slow, defensive battle. The tide seemed to turn on the fourth Chaminade drive of the game, which started at the Lions' 49-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Gerbasi bolted up the gut for another 15-yard gain, giving the Flyers a first down.

Immediately after, Chaminade nearly broke the scoreless tie. Off a double move on the far side of the field, WR Peter Braz generated major separation from cornerback Teo Tsoulos. While Braz was waving his hand and calling for the ball, Murphy skied it in the air, but the throw was a little strong, resulting in an incompletion. After runs by Gerbasi and Murphy, the Flyers were close to Justin Jones's field-goal range, but he came up just short on a 48-yard attempt, and the game remained a stalemate.

Monsignor Farrell used the resulting field position to their advantage. Two short passes from QB Ryan Walsh, a pair of runs by Nafis Muhammad, and a quarterback sneak moved the Lions to the Flyers' 40-yard line as the clock ticked past the five-minute mark. Farrell's march down DiTommaso Field almost ended on a sliding interception on an attempt from Benjamin Bekiers, but the pass fell incomplete.

Three plays later, on 4th-and-7 after a bad snap on the previous play, the Lions went for it. While rolling to his right, Walsh looked back left and found an open Aiden Pedreros, who had blockers in front of him. Predreros brought Flyers defender Thomas Jemison on his back into the end zone with him for a 28-yard touchdown. The extra point from Burrowes was good, and the Lions led 7-0.

On the last drive of the first half, a leaping catch by Dietrich gave the Flyers hope, but a few penalties later, Jones punted and Monsignor Farrell kneeled out the remaining clock.

In the halftime huddle, Dean Schmitt could be heard energizing his teammates: "We are not done, boys! Let's go!" 

As Jones booted the pigskin away to start the second half, the Flyers got the massive play that they needed, as Lions' return unit fumbled the ball and Mahmood came up with the critical recovery.

On the ensuing 3rd-and-18, Murphy went to Braz on a go route, dropping a perfect pass right into his breadbasket for a spectacular 23-yard touchdown reception. The extra point from Jones was good, and the Flyers had tied it at 7.

"Braz had a huge performance today. That is no surprise to us," said Chaminade head coach Thomas Claro. "We know he is one of the most talented guys in this league, and we were able to lean on him today."

Looking to retake the lead, Walsh and company put together a pretty stretch of plays on the next Lions possession, though they had to survive a fumble scare when the ball rolled out of bounds at Chaminade's 45-yard line. Ultimately, it came down to a 4th-and-4 from the 29-yard line. Walsh went back to pass and quickly fired it to Moye on the far side, but as the wide receiver tried to adjust to the inside throw from Walsh, Daniel Landrem broke it up, forcing a turnover on downs.

Farrell's next drive began with 3:30 left in the third quarter, but it didn't last long. As Moye lunged forward on a screen pass, Chaminade's Schmitt punched the ball out and onto the turf. With a pile of players in the area of the fumble, Schmitt somehow came up with it to complete the turnover, handing his Flyers incredible field position. 

On the first play of the last quarter, a 3rd-and-7, Murphy found Dietrich in stride for a gain of 14, moving the Flyers' to Farrell's 11-yard line. Back-to-back runs from Peter Cwietniewicz pushed the ball over the goal line and Jones split the uprights again to make the score 14-7 with 11:10 remaining in regulation.

"Peter had a great game for us," praised Coach Claro. "He played a huge role for us tonight."

Propelled by two fourth-down conversions, the Lions drove deep into Chaminade territory on their next possession, moving inside the 10-yard line with under six minutes on the clock. On a critical 4th-and-2, the Lions handed it to Muhammad for the fourth consecutive play, but he was swallowed up in the backfield by Timothy Battaglia, Louis D'Agostino, Giancarlo Viscardi, and Nicholas Cuomo to give the Flyers the ball back with 4:36 to play.

Three runs from Cwietniewicz gave Chaminade a first down with three minutes remaining. The next two plays featured runs by Murphy and Cwietniewicz, placing the Flyers in a third-and-short situation. Monsignor Farrell had been forced to use all of its timeouts, so the clock was running. On third down, Cwietniewicz ran it up the middle but was tackled before the line to gain.

Time ticked under 1:30 as Jones came back onto the field to punt. With the wind at his back, Jones sent it away, and the ball bounced at the Chaminade 45-yard line. However, the slow roller kept going…and going…and going…until it was finally downed at the 24-yard line with just 56 seconds to play.

"Justin was great today, shout out to him!" said Claro after the game. "He has been reliable for us all year, and he was today, as well."

Monsignor Farrelll moved down the field quickly and impressively on their final, desperate drive, but with three seconds on the clock, the Lions had to go to the end zone from Chaminade's 38-yard line. Walsh's last-ditch toss fell incomplete well short of the end zone, giving Chaminade the win.

"That second half was special," said Claro to his team after the win. "That type of intensity will bring us deep into November football. There was no MVP of this game; this was a team effort. Everyone did their job well today!"

"Great job, defense! You guys bent, but you didn't break. You really worked as a cohesive unit today!" Claro added. "I am really proud of the offensive performance today. We ran the ball really well!"

Even in the celebratory moment, Claro couldn't help but peek forward to this weekend's semifinal matchup against Iona Prep.

"We have to be ready to work against a great team in Iona Prep - be excited to play them in the semifinals," he said. "Let's finish business!" 

The semifinal matchup kicks off in New Rochelle at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.