Orchard Lake St. Mary's tops Brother Rice in triple OT

Tom Markowski / The Detroit News

ORCHARD LAKE-- Quarterback Robert Bolden of Orchard Lake St. Mary's struggled most of the game to complete passes and gain yards on designed runs. But in the overtime periods Bolden, the senior who committed to Penn State, made two big plays to put his team in the Catholic League final.

Bolden's 10-yard touchdown run in the third overtime gave St. Mary's a 34-27 victory over Birmingham Brother Rice on Saturday in a Catholic League Central Division game at St. Mary's.

St. Mary's (3-3) will face Detroit Catholic Central (7-0, 4-0) for the league championship in the Prep Bowl on Oct. 24 at Ford Field. A victory would have put Brother Rice in the title game.

St. Mary's and Brother Rice tied for second in the division at 2-2 and St. Mary's gets a second chance at C.C. by virtue of the tiebreaker. Last Sunday, C.C. defeated St. Mary's 27-0.

Adam Gorski of Brother Rice kicked a 20-yard field goal with 15.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime at 17-17. Each team kicked a field goal in the first overtime.

Brother Rice (5-2) took a 27-20 lead on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Frankie Popp to Tyler Weir on second down. Bolden threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nick Larson to tie the game on the St. Mary's possession in the second overtime.

After Bolden scrambled for his touchdown run in the third overtime, Brother Rice had a third-and-goal from the 2-yard-line but fumbled. Allen Robinson recovered in the end zone for St. Mary's to end the game.

Bolden suffered an injury to his right index finger on his throwing hand midway through the game and was ineffective throughout most of the second half. He completed just three passes in 12 attempts for 49 yards and had 11 carries for 23 yards. But when his team needed him most, Bolden made two of the biggest plays of the game.

"This is huge," he said. "Our playoffs are right now. We have to win out. I can't wait to get another shot at C.C. We just have to play better."

On his winning TD run, Bolden said, "It was supposed to be a rollout. But Rice called out, 'Roll right, roll right,' and there was nothing there. I saw the hole and took it (to the left)."

The loss overshadowed a fine performance by Popp. The senior quarterback set school records for attempts (49), completions (25) and yards passing (365). He threw touchdown passes of 20 and 27 yards to Kevonte Martin-Manley (seven receptions, 141 yards) in addition to the one in overtime.

But mistakes cost Brother Rice. Four turnovers and a missed 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter were too much to overcome.

"That's football," Brother Rice coach Al Fracassa said. "We've won some close ones this year and lost this one. We can throw the ball OK but we just have to run it better. It's very frustrating."

Brother Rice gained 31 yards rushing. St. Mary's gained 208 total yards. Enrique Pardo led the way with 103 yards rushing on 22 carries.

St. Mary's took advantage of the wind and dominated the first quarter and led 10-0. A 34-yard pass from Bolden to Keith Stonestreet gave St. Mary's a first-and-goal at the 6, and three plays later defensive tackle Cortez Riley lined up in the backfield and scored on a 1-yard dive.

Brother Rice failed to gain a first down and punted from its 20. The punt into the wind went out of bounds at the 29 and St. Mary's capitalized on the short field as Nathan Parry kicked a 22-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 3:22 left.

Prep Football

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Robert Bolden scores on a 10-yard run in the third overtime to give St. Mary's the victory. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)

Gary Hunter of Orchard Lake St. Mary's breaks up a pass intended for Brother Rice's Kevonte Martin-Manley. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)

Chased by OLSM's James Ross, Brother Rice's Kyle Galli picks up yardage after the catch. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)

Robert Bolden runs away from a pack of Warriors. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)