Holy Cow! South Bend Saint Joseph wins 62nd 'Holy War' in overtime over Mishawaka Marian

MISHAWAKA — The special part about rivalry games is the opportunity for players to leave their mark on history. And after Friday night, Saint Joseph sophomore running back Brady Langager has his own spot in "Holy War" lore.

Minutes before Hayden Miller knocked away Mishawaka Marian's last-ditch effort in the end zone of fourth down, sending a jubilant Saint Joe student section onto the field, Langager dove into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown to help Saint Joe win the 62nd version of the rivalry, 28-21, over the Knights at Bob Otolski Field.

It was the first time the two teams were pushed to overtime against each other.

"Right now all I'm thinking about is the win," Langager said moments after the game. "It is a big win and we got to move on to the playoffs next week. On to Plymouth and just keep on going."

Both offenses had been underwhelming for two months and neither had scored since September. Both teams needed a win and not just for the year-long bragging rights that Saint Joe now has for the first time since 2018. It now has confidence and belief heading into next Friday's sectional opener.

"About as an exciting and important game as I've ever been a part of outside of playoff games," Saint Joe head coach Ben Downey said.

Saint Joe (3-6, 2-3 in the Northern Lakes Conference), which hadn't won since Week 4, scored as many points as it had in its past five games combined.

"Our fans, coaches and players knew what we have been doing offensively up to this point was simply unacceptable," Downey said. "We challenged the players to dive into the playbook, leave no stone unturned, know exactly what to do on every play. Our fingers were crossed they would do so and it is clear by the way they executed they did just that."

It was almost a sense of relief for Saint Joe when Langager opened the game's scoring in the first quarter with a 3-yard plunge.

"That brought the energy up and brought the whole team up, really," Langager said. "We were down on the sideline the last few games and we were really in that game and we finally scored and that helped us out."

More:High school football scores, Week 9, Oct. 14, 2022

There was a fight to Saint Joe it hadn't seen in weeks. Both times it trailed, after Marian tied the game at 7, it fought its way back, tying the game at 14 with 38 seconds left in the first half and then again at 21 with 6:57 remaining. Its defense held on to force overtime, then shut the Knights out of the end zone on four consecutive plays to seal the win.

"Tough one," Marian head coach Mike Davidson said. "We shot ourselves in the foot way too many times to win the football game."

The Knights (2-7, 1-4 NIC), the second-lowest scoring team in the Northern Indiana Conference, thought they found some answers when Brian Osman scored Marian's first offensive touchdown in more than a month to tie the game at 7 late in the first quarter.

They thought they were heading toward their eighth win in the last nine years over their rivals when Braxton Brooks' touchdown gave the Knights a one-score lead with 8:36 remaining.

Instead, Marian heads into its 3A sectional opener at West Noble next week still searching for those same consistency answers.

Of course, the start of the IHSAA playoffs gives every team, good or bad, a new start. And until someone knocks off the Knights, winners of three consecutive regional championships, they are still a team to take seriously.

Saint Joe, who opens 4A sectionals next week at Plymouth, knows that better than anyone. Despite going 2-7 last season, it advanced to its first sectional championship game since 2018.

Could it be a candidate again to make an unexpected postseason run?

Possibly. Friday's win surely gave Saint Joe the needed confidence that it could be done.

"It's just keeping the energy and momentum going in the playoffs," Langager said. "We made a big run last year upsetting Logansport in the first round of sectionals and made a run to the sectional championship and looking to do that again."

Saint Joseph 28, Marian 21 (OT)

SJ: Brady Langager 3-yard run (PAT GOOD, 4:59 1Q)

MM: Brian Osman 1-yard run (PAT GOOD, 1:02 1Q)

MM: Mark Warbington blocked punt recovery (PAT GOOD, 11:47 2Q)

SJ: Hayden Miller 16-yard pass to Alex Ortiz (PAT GOOD, 0:38 2Q)

MM: Braxton Brooks 1-yard run (PAT GOOD, 8:36 4Q)

SJ: Ortiz 6-yard pass to Liam Lamont (PAT GOOD, 6:57 4Q)

SJ: Langager 4-yard run (PAT GOOD, OT)

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA Football: South Bend Saint Joseph beats Mishawaka Marian