North Quincy's Thanksgiving Hail Mary makes No. 1 on SportsCenter Top 10
QUINCY - There were four seconds left on the clock and North Quincy was down by eight in the Thanksgiving Day matchup against Quincy. With the game on the line, senior quarterback Mike Galligan went for a Hail Mary that would mark the most memorable play of his high football career.
"I just couldn't get sacked," Galligan recalled saying to himself. "I kept telling myself I can't get sacked. I have to hold onto the ball."
45-yard Hail Mary touchdown
Galligan would go on to throw a 45-yard Hail Mary into the end zone and right into the hands of senior wide receiver, Tyler Cromwell. The two have played football together for more than a decade.
"He throws it up and it goes directly over everyone's hands and into my chest," said Cromwell. He'd fall to the ground with other players landing on him. He held onto the ball. "I could just see all the kids we go to school with jumping up and down along the fence," he said.
Top play on SportsCenter
The Patriot Ledger called it "The Miracle on Hancock Street." The play itself got picked up by SportsCenter as a Top 10 play. In fact, it was number one. Boston sports radio has had a field day with it too.
The North Quincy Raiders would end up driving in a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. They answered a Quincy High School touchdown in OT with one of their own and another two-point conversion to win the game.
That Hail Mary pass marked Galligan's 30th touchdown pass of the season. A record that was previously set at 21 by Galligan as a junior. He's regarded as one of the best, if not the best, high school quarterback in the state.
"I've had better games I would say, but it's definitely the best ending out of any games in my entire high school career," said Galligan. "I have been surrounded by football for a lot of my life. It's just been my thing. I've always played and been pretty good at it and I stuck with it. There's no me without football."
