Stanford and O'Neill sloshed their way to an 8-8 tie Thursday night in one of the most bizarre games of the 2004 interhall season.
The game featured four interceptions, including one returned for O'Neill's only touchdown, a safety, confusion over the score, a fan ejection and lots of mud.
Even stranger, Stanford played the entire game under the impression that a tie would give them a spot in the playoffs, most likely playing Keenan.
"RecSports told us that if we tied O'Neill, we'd get the fourth playoff spot," Griffin captain Vin Monaco said.
Instead, the Griffins were informed after the game that their season is finished and the Morrissey Manorites will be playing the Knights after fall break.
As for the game itself, O'Neill opened the scoring with a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown, first points of any kind scored on Stanford since their first game of the season.
The resulting two-point conversion was controversial, however.
"None of the refs signaled that they got it in," Monaco said. "Until halfway through the third quarter we thought it was 8-6 us. Then they told us it had counted."
Stanford then mounted a long drive behind its suddenly powerful running game, which accounted for 101 yards on the night.
Part of the improvement in the running game was credited to fullback Eddie Medick, who started the season on the defensive line but was placed on the offensive side of the ball last week against Morrissey.
The march was halted, however, by an interception at the Angry Mob six-yard line.
The next play, O'Neill tried to run a reverse pass, but the play broke down and resulted in a safety.
Stanford then proceeded to push the ball 50-yards in 10 plays to tie the game.
Once O'Neill regained possession of the ball, their next drive moved quickly, aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Stanford fan Trinidad Arredando. He threw a football onto the field and hit O'Neill quarterback Matt Hughie in the back. However, the Mob's hopes were dashed by another interception.
After the half, both teams played conservatively, especially Stanford, since the Griffins thought a tie was all they needed. A last ditch pass by O'Neill was completed but came up well short of the goal line.
Dillon 6, Alumni 6
After a bitter, hard-fought contest, bragging rights have yet to be assigned in one of the biggest rivalries on campus.
Meeting in the last regular season game of the year, Dillon (2-0-2) met Alumni (2-1-1) Thursday night in a nail-biter, which ended in a 6-6 tie.
"In this kind of game, the winning team is usually the one who wants it more. In this case, we both wanted it really badly. Both teams gave 110 percent," Alumni captain A.J. Remen said.
The Dawgs drew first blood in the game when Brent Locey connect-ed with Ryan "King" McGet- tigan on a 57-yard bomb in the first quarter, putting up the first points on a Dillon defense that has been perfect thus far this season.
"Brent threw a perfect pass, and Ryan just got behind their secondary," Remen said. "Dillon has a really tough defense, there is no denying that. We just ran a good play and beat them on that one."
After a failed two-point conversion attempt and a scoreless second quarter, the first half ended with The Dawgs leading, 6-0.
The Big Red wouldn't wait long to strike back, however. After recovering a fumbled Alumni snap, Dillon moved the ball deep into the red zone, eventually scoring on a 4-yard pass from Michael Johnson to Kenny Cushing.
"The offensive line did a great job and Johnson had a lot of time to throw. Kenny found a hole in the Cover-2 that they were playing, and got open, and Johnson made a good throw," Dillon captain Mike Roaldi said.
The Big Red couldn't connect on the two-point conversion, leaving the game in a stalemate.
Both teams have big hopes for the postseason, and look to make the necessary adjustments to be successful.
"I think our defense is really strong, but we're looking to work a few things out with our offense. We know we'll be playing some tough teams in the playoffs, and we want to make sure we're ready," Remen said.
Roaldi also felt that his team has a few things to work on, but feels good about its performance tonight.
"We've got to tighten up a little, and get really fired up for the playoffs," he said. "We showed a lot of heart and resiliency coming from behind tonight, and overall, I liked what I saw from the team tonight."
