FORT MYERS, Fla. — There was magic out on Sam Sirianni Field last Thursday night between Fort Myers and Tampa Catholic. It was a wild game with a storybook ending. Quarterback Chris McFoley was on fire that night, hence him being named the week 9 ABC7 Player of the Week.
“It means a lot to me,” said McFoley. “I’m blessed for the opportunity to get chosen for this.”
“I’ve seen the work he’s put in and this is the fruits of his labor, and we lean on him a lot,” said Fort Myers head coach Sammy Sirianni. “That’s the greatest compliment I can give him is that we put our trust in him running this show.”
McFoley stepped up big time with insane stats — 245 passing yards and four touchdowns. Plus, he added 186 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. That’s 431 total yards of offense in the 51-48 victory.
“This is the standard now,” said McFoley. “It was a great game but now leading on after this, now I know what I should be able to do and what I’m capable of.”
The Green Wave and the Crusaders traded touchdowns all night, but when McFoley’s squad was ever behind, his leadership skills kicked in.
“I had to keep everybody focusing on the task,” said McFoley. “We had like a few guys on the bench so I had to lift them up and everything, get everybody back into the game. But once we got rolling, everything and everything was on a good roll and stuff, we were in the zone.”
With five minutes in the fourth quarter, Fort Myers was trailing. But McFoley led the Greenies as they marched down the field to score the go-ahead, game-winning touchdown.
“Everybody got their seven eight, whatever dollars worth,” laughed Sirianni. “It was a school night so we were here well past their bedtime. But we played a quality opponent with a lot of good athletes and neither team could seem to slow down the other and as we went into that last drive with about five minutes to go, that’s what you work for. The ability to come out and function in that big time of the game and — but it was a big win for us and now you’re at that time of the year where you’re trying to build momentum for the playoffs and hopefully this week our performance will even go up another notch.”
Fort Myers is shifting focus now toward the game this Friday, October 27 at Cypress Lake.