CREVE COEUR — Nick McClellan could have used a little breather.
The CBC junior quarterback didn't get it.
Instead, McClellan had to go back onto the field a minute after a long touchdown run in the second half of Friday's large-school power showdown with rival De Smet.
"Went to the bench, sat down for a second and had to get back up and go back in," McClellan said. "It was OK, I wasn't really tired."
McClellan promptly went out and tossed a 35-yard scoring strike to senior Brycen Dorsey to kick-start the Cadets to an emphatic 38-14 win in the Metro Catholic Conference football showdown at De Smet.
CBC, with McClellan leading the way, scored three times in a span of 84 seconds midway through the third period to turn a 14-10 deficit into a safe 31-14 lead.
In the blink of an eye, the Cadets grabbed the tight contest by the throat.
"In high school football, it's about momentum," CBC coach Scott Pingel said. "Any time you can do something like that, you're in pretty good shape."
Dorsey ran past his defender and hauled in the long pass in stride to push CBC's lead to 24-14 just 40 seconds after McClellan's scintillating run.
"The second half we had to go out and (throw) the first punch," Dorsey said. "We were down. We had to come out first, come out hard."
McClellan ran for two scores and threw for another, all in the second half.
The Cadets' blitz was a crushing blow for De Smet, which zipped out to a 14-10 lead on a 12-yard TD pass from Dillon Duff to Liam Russo in the closing minute of the first half.
The De Smet offense never got going over the final two quarters while CBC pounced on every opportunity.
"They came out and just outplayed us in the second half," De Smet coach John Merritt said. "We couldn't get anything done."
CBC (3-1 overall, 2-0 MCC) grabbed the lead for good on a 59-yard jaunt up the middle by McClellan. He juked a trio of defenders, then cut down the right sideline and into the end zone.
De Smet (3-1, 1-1) then turned the ball over on its second play after surrendering the lead. CBC linebacker Arthur Porter recovered a fumble after a crunching hit from Viyon Cothrine.
"I was just trying to make a heads up play," Porter said. "Doing anything I can. That's what that play was about."
McClellan waltzed back onto the field and went for a kill shot with a long pass to Dorsey for a 10-point lead.
CBC's special teams then made its mark when Ethan Wright recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.
Junior running back Courtney Rivers converted on a 36-yard TD run on the second play to complete the 21-point explosion in just 1 minute and 24 seconds.
Bing. Bam. Boom.
"I didn't really know what (type of team) we were coming into this game," Pingel said. "I've found out a little about what we've become — and I'm pretty excited about it."
McClellan, an NCAA Division I prospect whose brother plays at the University of Oregon, sealed the triumph with a 1-yard run midway through the fourth period.
The score completed a 28-0 second-half outburst.
"I felt like the first half I let the team down," McClellan said. "I've got to do my job and I didn't do my job the first half. My teammates picked me up in the locker room. They told me, 'We're down, but we've got this.'Â
"And that's what happened."
The tradition-rich programs have combined to win seven state titles with six runner-up finishes.
The contest was played before a sellout crowd with both sides well represented. Tickets sales were halted in the morning.
"Playing in big games like, that's what it's all about," McClellan said.
De Smet stunned CBC 49-14 in last year's regular season game at CBC before the Cadets came back and won the rematch in the Class 6 state semifinals 31-28.
The two might play again deep in the postseason in November.
"This is something the players have had marked on their schedule," Lions coach Brennan Spain said. "It's a true test."
Junior quarterback Nick McClellan (right) sparked CBC’s second-half comeback in a 38-14 victory against De Smet in a Metro Catholic Conference football showdown.
CBC’s Ethan Wright (36) hands the ball to the official after a kickoff fumble recovery against De Smet, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at De Smet Jesuit High School in Creve Coeur. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch