Mike Galligan’s heroics rescue North Quincy in 43-41 OT classic

QUINCY – For only the second time in the 92-year history, Quincy and North Quincy needed overtime to decide a victor.

The arm and legs of senior captain Mike Galligan was just enough as he connected on a Hail Mary to end regulation and then scored the game-winning TD along with the two-point rush to give North Quincy its second straight Thanksgiving Day victory over Quincy, 43-41, at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Quincy leads the series 49-38-5.

“That was a heck of a game to be a part of,” said Raiders’ coach Ryan Craig. “I tip my hat to Quincy. They played tough today. They made some big plays and we made some big plays. That was a heck of a game.”

Facing a 35-27 deficit, North Quincy (5-6) had 46 seconds from its own 40. Quincy (3-8) forced a pair of incompletions before Galligan rushed for 22 yards to the Quincy 38. After an incompletion, Galligan found senior Tyler Cromwell for a 28-yard grab as time expired on a jump ball in the end zone. Galligan then rushed in the two-point conversion to knot the score 35-35 to force overtime.

“It feels great,” Galligan said about leading the game-tying and game-winning drives. “I mean, senior year, I’m just happy that I got to win for everyone else. I’m happy that I’m the reason why everybody’s happy today and why they can enjoy Thanksgiving a little more.”

In overtime, after junior Leo Steinburg ran it in from 20 yards out for his third rushing score of the second half to give Quincy the 41-35 advantage, Galligan needed just one play to answer with a 20-yard rushing score and then he rushed it in for the two-point try to give the Raiders the 43-41 win.

“We couldn’t have drawn it up any better,” Craig said about his QB’s game-winner. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I think he’s the best quarterback in Eastern Massachusetts, hands down.”

Galligan finished with 100 yards through the air and 96 yards on the ground with three total scores to go along with the pair of two-point conversions.

Without a score in the third, Quincy took its first lead on a nine-yard rushing score for Steinberg (20 Carries, 190 yards, 3 TDS) to go up 27-21 with 8:49 to go.

North Quincy answered with a 14-play drive of all runs as sophomore Gavin Brown ran it in from two yards out with 2:17 remaining.

The Presidents were able to find running room on a third down play as Steinberg found paydirt with 52 seconds left. He also converted the rush to go up 35-27.

In the first quarter, it was the Galligan show as he completed all three of his passes for 62 yards and two passing scores for North Quincy. The first went 31 yards to senior captain Marques Rodrigues-Smith to make it 7-0 with 10:25 to go in the first. The second came to Galligan’s right as he found Rodrigues-Smith for a 21-yard diving catch near the back of the end zone to push the lead to 21-7 towards the end of the first quarter.

“Those guys have worked hard over the last few years,” Craig said. “Marques knows where to go and Mikey knows where he is going. They have good communication. They can look at each other and give a head nod and wink.”

Quincy battled back in the second quarter as one play after Nate Allen recovered a punt sophomore captain Jonas Ala took it 22 yards to the house to cut the deficit to 21-14.

After senior Diego Tavares Goncalves picked off the Galligan pass, Quincy ended the half on a 13-play drive to take up 7:54 off the clock. It was capped as Ala found senior Jayden Francois for a 17-yard score to knot the score 21-21 with 17 ticks until the half.

Francois also caught a 43-yard pass from senior captain Nate Goff in the first quarter to make it a 14-7 hole with 1:19 left in the first quarter.

The other North Quincy score came after a fumble recovery for Muhamad Alzubaidy after Tim Toland forced the fumble. Four plays later, junior Ryan Wirtz ran it in from five yards out to extend the Raiders’ lead to 14-0 with 8:32 to go in the first.