Matt Dieguez hits Patrick Bruno in closing seconds to lift Chaminade over Kellenberg in CHSFL quarterfinals
Patrick Bruno of Chaminade scores the winning touchdown despite the effort by Kellenberg's Jaylen Menon during the CHSFL AAA quarterfinals at Chaminade on Nov. 5, 2022. Credit: Neil Miller
The nine seconds on the clock when the ball was snapped had ticked off and Chaminade quarterback Matt Dieguez had reversed his rollout to go back across the field in a desperate search for a target near the end zone. Flyers receiver Pat Bruno saw this, bailed on his route and raced along the goal line to follow the ball. Finally, it came together.
Dieguez put the pass right in Bruno’s basket and the 6-1 senior carried a pair of Kellenberg tacklers into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown and the final cadence on Chaminade’s 19-17 CHSFL AAA quarterfinal victory over the Firebirds Saturday at the Flyers’ Gold Star Stadium.
“When I caught it, I knew there was a little ways to go and I had people all over me,” Bruno said. “I had to get in, so I dove for the pylon.”
It was crisis time for Chaminade (5-4) when it started that possession on its own 35 with only two minutes left in the game. Kellenberg (6-4) had just snatched the lead on a brilliant 49-yard bomb from quarterback Devin Page to streaking wideout Claude-Albert Makelele.
“You could see what a great leader Matt is at the end,” running back John Tully said. “Kellenberg is one of our biggest rivals so there’s already a lot of emotion. In that moment it would be easy to lose your cool. He kept everyone calm through the entire drive.”
Chaminade coach Kevin Dolan said od Dieguez “he’s the ultimate competitor and you saw it right there.”
Dieguez pointed to an offensive line that got several big blocks in the contest by Mason Dietrich, Nicholas Rinaldi and Connor Bermiss as the keys. “Our offensive line was awesome to give me thee time to make that pass,” he said.
Fourth-seeded Chaminade next travels to No. 1 St. Anthony’s for a semifinal meeting next weekend.
Dieguez was 10-for-15 passing for 134 yards and two touchdowns and Tully carried 18 times for 90 yards for Chaminade. Gavin Creo had five receptions for 69 yards including a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter that tied the score 10-10 and Tim Tomlinson kicked field goals of 22 and 20 yards for the Flyers.
Page was 17-for-24 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns and Sean Cannon rushed for 85 yards on 12 carries, caught an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 10-3 second-quarter lead and kicked a 29-yard field goal for Kellenberg. Matthew Watterson had seven receptions for 67 yards and recovered a fumble for the Thunderbirds.
While the Flyers got many contributions, this win was especially rewarding for Dieguez. In the teams’ 2021 regular-season meeting, he was called mid-game and asked to rally the Flyers. Instead he threw two interceptions and, when it was over, the Kellenberg fans celebrated by showering their rivals’ field with rubber duckies in fun.
“The rubber duckies aside, I was brutally embarrassed,” Dieguez said. “I was given a chance to spark our team with a chance to win and it was a disaster. . . . Today was a better ending. We made the one big play when we needed to.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
