AT AACS, IT’S WAYNE’S WORLD

Mike Wayne made good on his first career start at quarterback, punctuating a dramatic and historic game-winning drive with a touchdown pass and his two-point conversion run to give first-year program Annapolis Area Christian its first-ever victory, 21-20, at MIAA C Conference opponent Friend School.

And the 5-foot-11, 150-pound junior made it count.

Wayne engineered an 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended with his 16-yard scoring pass to freshman Tyler Weist with no time remaining, then ran for the game-winning, two-point conversion to lift first-year football program to a 21-20 victory.

“The play was a boot-leg left, and when I started to go, I saw an open field. I saw daylight. And I didn’t trust myself to getoff a pass,” Wayne said. “It just worked out. But when I reached the endzone, the first thing I did was throw the ball into the air. Then, before I knew it, I was being mobbed by my teammates.”

The win improved the Eagles to 1-2 in the league, and, 1-4, overall, while the Quakers slipped to 0-3, 0-6.

Wayne and his Eagles trailed, 13-0, midway through the second quarter before he started their comeback, finishing with the scoring pass to Wiest, while also completing those of  7 and 40 yards to Regan Edmonds and Matt Soldano, respectively.

Wayne’s heroics in what coach Ken Lucas called “a drive that seemed to last forever,” and which began with 1:31 to play, also included freshman Joe Memmel and Joe Stelfox, the latter of whom Lucas called, “probably the player of the game.”

The Eagles overcame a 20-14 deficit by “slowly working their way down the field with short passes to multiple receivers,” Lucas said.

“I was fortunate, because I had thrown an interception, but then, our defense held them,” said Wayne, crediting the blocking of Edmonds and fellow linemen Johnny Marsh, Brian Chew, Mitch Wiley, Jason Bowen and Adam Smith.

“Coach gave me the plays, told me to be calm, and to just do what I could do,” Wayne said. “I’m just glad that when I got the ball in my hands, I was able to do something with it.”

Wayne and [running back] James Hagerott “even added a few rushing yards along the way,” Lucas said. “With no time on the clock, that put the Eagles in a position to tie or win.”

Immediately after Wayne’s pass to Wiest, Lucas summoned the offense to stay on the field.

Lucas called a play-action pass, but Wayne “pulled the ball down and ran in for the go-ahead two-point conversion,” the coach said.

“Whatever it was, or whatever it was intended to be, it was certainly a beautiful thing,” said Lucas. “This was a hard-fought game with the Friends School jumping out on top in the first-half with a 13-7 lead. [We] achieved a milestone this evening.”

The Eagles, who have been shut out three times by a combined, 119-0, had achieved their first milestone when junior John Phillips scored the program’s first-ever TD on a 4-yard run with under a minute left in a 25-7 loss to the Maryland Christian Saints on Sept. 21.