With the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter and the score between Smith Vocational and Ludlow tied at 30 apiece, the tension couldn’t have been higher between the two football teams.

Something had to give. 

Smith Voc’s Jared Baer took the game into his own hands late in the fourth, sprinting into the end zone to give the Vikings a 36-30 lead with three minutes, 30 seconds left on the clock. 

Smith Voc head coach Alex Martinez’s Subocz's heart rate was sky high as he stood on the sidelines, trying to stay calm in the dying minutes of the game. 

“If I had an Apple watch or a Fitbit it would have been going off. My heart was racing, but a good racing,” Subocz said. “We were confident that we were going to close out the game.” 

They just needed to shut Ludlow down defensively for a few minutes, so they subbed in junior John Majewski to keep an eye on Ludlow’s most pesky player. With just over a minute to go, Majewski snagged an interception that gave the Vikings the breathing room they needed. They picked up a first down and were able to end the game taking a knee, allowing the celebration to commence for a 36-30 victory on Friday night in Ludlow.

“It’s the happiest I've ever seen our kids. It was a true team win tonight,” Subocz said. 

Smith Voc recovered an onside kick to start the game and scored on a Brayden LaRose touchdown, also converting on a two-point conversion to make it 8-0. From there, the Vikings offense struggled and Ludlow surged to a lead, tying the game 8-8 and then scoring back-to-back touchdowns to give Ludlow a 23-8 advantage with roughly six minutes left in the half. 

The Vikings called a timeout to calm their team, and that was just what the team needed to get their bearings again. Smith Voc scored twice before the half was over, one touchdown from Martinez and the other from Baer, and went into the locker room at the half down just one point, 23-22. 

Both teams scored again to deadlock the game at 30, with Majewski catching a pass from Martinez for a 12-yard touchdown. 

The win moves Smith Voc’s record to 2-0 on the season, and puts quarterback Martinez one win away from having sole ownership of the school’s quarterback win record. The Vikings will host their first game of the season against Keefe Tech on Friday at 6 p.m. 

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.]]>