Football: Catch of the day goes to Mercy’s Beyrodt
It was the catch of the day, if not the half-century.
In 50 years of varsity football at Bishop McGann-Mercy Diocesan High School, there aren’t many, if any, catches better than the one Max Beyrodt made on Saturday.
On a third-and-five play from the Wyandanch 10-yard line, Mercy quarterback Ryan Razzano rolled right. Senior wide receiver Max Beyrodt was running a post corner route. “As I broke, I knew the corner that was on me, he wasn’t near me,” Beyrodt said. “Razz saw it, the opportunity that was out there. He put out a great ball and I had to go for it.”
Beyrodt laid out, going completely horizontal while making a spectacular diving catch near the right corner of the end zone. The touchdown completed a 13-play, 64-yard drive in the first quarter and sent Mercy on the way to a 16-0 homecoming victory over Wyandanch.
“It was pretty incredible,” said Mercy running back Anthony Bossone, who had a memorable game himself, rushing for 243 yards on 24 carries.
Was it the greatest catch Beyrodt had ever made?
“Probably,” he said. Beyrodt said he asked himself after the catch, “Did that just happen?”
It was a busy, noteworthy afternoon at Harold T. Murray Memorial Field, with all the homecoming hoopla, recognizing members of the original Mercy team from 1967 and some pregame controversy as some Wyandanch players elected to kneel during the national anthem. But Beyrodt’s catch was clearly the highlight of the day on the field.
That doesn’t come as a great surprise to Mercy coach Jeff Doroski.
“Max has really come into his own this year as a senior and he goes about his work and we love what he does for us out there,” Doroski said. “He’s solid on both sides of the ball. When he has opportunities to make plays he does. He runs the ball hard after the catch. He blocks on the outside. He’s really turned into a complete football player.”
Beyrodt’s catch, his only one of the day, and the two-point run by Razzano that followed it, stood as the game’s only points until Mercy (3-2 in Suffolk County Division IV) gave itself some breathing room 6 minutes, 23 seconds into the fourth quarter. Razzano caught the Wyandanch defense by surprise with a quickly taken quarterback sneak in which he was barely touched on his 30-yard sprint to the end zone. “I saw a big opening and just took it,” he said. Christian Doroski, the coach’s son, caught the two-point conversion pass.
The ball never got closer to the Mercy goal line than the Mercy 49 the rest of the way.
“I think defensively we did a really good job,” Jeff Doroski said. “Offensively, I can’t say enough about Tony Bossone and the way he ran the ball today. All in all, I think the effort from these guys was just tremendous.”
Bossone’s yardage helped Mercy rack up 357 total yards to 81 for Wyandanch (0-5).
“Everyone played great,” Bossone said. “The whole line in front of me blocked incredibly … I think we were pretty sharp today with everything we did.”
Among those who were most appreciative of Beyrodt’s acrobatic catch was Razzano.
“It was amazing,” the junior said. “It looked great on my stats, too.”
Photo caption: Bishop McGann-Mercy’s Gabe Boro, left, and John Urrico team up to stop Wyandanch’s Alonte Shipp. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)
