Chris Mallette isn’t used to playing two quarterbacks, and he’s not used to seeing people riding around on camels before games.
But the Hope Academy coach doesn’t mind getting out of his comfort zone if the end result is a win.
So it was on Friday night at Wheaton Academy when the Eagles changed quarterbacks in the second half and stormed back from a 15-point deficit to win 28-21.
Kareem Morris intercepted a Wheaton Academy pass in the end zone on the final play of the game to keep the Eagles (6-0, 4-0 Chicagoland Christian) unbeaten.
That capped a night whose highlights included Wheaton Academy (3-3, 3-1) continuing an annual tradition by having a member of the school community ride around the field on a camel before kickoff.
“One thing I regret is I didn’t have enough time to spend with the camel,” Mallette said. “I would have liked a picture with the camel.”
He’ll settle for a comeback win against one of the conference’s top teams. The rally from a 21-6 deficit was sparked by big plays from both Hope quarterbacks.
Starter Jacobi Henry raced 43 yards for a touchdown to pull Hope within 21-12 in the third quarter. Daeveon Greenberg, who transferred from Sullivsn to Hope this year, took over to start the fourth quarter.
“I know they say if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks,” Mallette said. “Well, we have two quarterbacks. They both specialize in their own thing, If one is struggling, the other comes in and vice versa. They’ve been starting different games during the season. And they’ve been tremendous. They’re each other’s No. 1 fan.”
“We just got to trust in one another,” Greenberg said. “I got Jacobi’s back, Jacobi’s got my back.”
When Greenberg took over at quarterback, Henry moved to receiver and caught a 10-yard TD pass with 6:35 left to help pull Hope within 21-20.
The Eagles got the ball back at their own 20 with 3:04 remaining and drove down the field to score on Greenberg’s 45-yard pass to Mekhi Smith with 54 seconds to play.
Wheaton Academy wasn’t done, though. Colton Miller completed passes of 19 and 23 yards to give the Warriors a first-and-goal at the Hope five-yard line. But the Eagles defense forced a pair of incompletions before Morris’ interception sealed the win.
“I’m thinking, ‘It’s all or nothing right now,’ and it just happened and I thank God for that play,” Morris said.
Greenberg was 8 of 10 passing for 134 yards. Henry went 8 of 18 for 110 yards with one interception and had seven carries for 55 yards. Carmen Cox ran for Hope’s first touchdown, while fellow back Maurtice Mitchell Jr. had 11 carries for 75 yards before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
“Our thing is, we’ve got to finish every day,” Greenberg said. “Finish that practice, finish with everything we do. We’ve got to finish and we’ll succeed like we did today.”
Miller completed 11 of 22 passes for 155 yards and one TD, a 71-yarder to Thomas Sommer, with one interception. Sommer had five catches for 107 yards. Miller also had a short scoring run and Logan Oros had 10 carries for 60 yards, including a 40-yard TD. Like Hope, Wheaton Academy lost a key player to injury: running back/safety Tyler Jones.
“I always have respect for what coach Mallette is doing at Hope,” Warriors coach Jim Johanik said. “We know, based on the history, these two teams have just battled it out. They’ve got the best of us the last two times they’ve come to our place so hat’s off to them.”