High school football game's crazy final minute ends with epic Hail Mary

A game between Washington D.C. area high schools Gonzaga and DeMatha had an absolutely epic final 45 seconds. (Getty)
A game between Washington D.C. area high schools Gonzaga and DeMatha had an absolutely epic final 45 seconds. (Getty)

If you want entertaining football, you could watch the NFL or the NCAA. But have you tried the final 45 seconds of this high school football game, which features three lead changes, several incredible catches and a bonkers Hail Mary to seal the win?

The game was between Gonzaga and DeMatha, two high schools in the Washington, D.C., area. They were playing for the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship on Sunday night, and DeMatha was up 36-33 with 45 seconds left. Close football games can get crazy in the final handful of seconds, but Gonzaga and DeMatha took it to a whole new level.

Gonzaga started the madness by driving the ball down most of the field for a touchdown, which included a fantastically accurate long pass and an acrobatic catch which was so acrobatic that the guy who caught it got pushed out of bounds while he was horizontal in midair. The touchdown gave Gonzaga a 40-36 lead with 29 seconds to play.

But DeMatha, which has won four WCAC titles in the last six years, wasn’t ready to go quietly. On the kick return right after the Gonzaga touchdown, a DeMatha senior took the ball all the way back into the end zone for a touchdown. The lead changed again (for the second time in 30 seconds), and DeMatha was back on top 43-40.

Gonzaga got the ball back and managed to stop the clock. With just four seconds left, Gonzaga’s sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams did what quarterbacks do when there’s no time but a lot of yards to cover: launch a Hail Mary into the sky and hope the ball finds a teammate.

Williams’ throw traveled 60 yards into the end zone, where a throng of white and purple players jumped in unison to receive it. The ball somehow landed in the hands of a Gonzaga receiver for a touchdown, and everyone — the players, the fans and the announcers — went absolutely crazy.

That Hail Mary sealed Gonzaga’s 46-43 win and their first WCAC championship since 2002. According to USA Today, quarterback Williams is the WCAC offensive player of the year, and three of his six touchdowns against DeMatha came in the final 3:03 of the game. He’s only a sophomore, but he already has a ton of offers from schools like Alabama, Michigan and Penn State. Something tells me this won’t be the last time we’ll hear from him.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter at @lizroscher.

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