Jake McCrae, Deerfield-Windsor head coach
Today’s interviewee is Deerfield-Windsor coach Jake McCrae, whose team defeated Brookwood School 26-21 on a final-play, multi-lateral touchdown pass in the GIAA semifinals last week. Deerfield-Windsor will play John Milledge Academy tonight at Mercer University for the GIAA Class 3A championship.
1. What happened on the final play? “I still don’t know what happened. They took the lead 21-20 at the end of the third quarter, and the fourth quarter was just back and forth, a punt fest. They went for it on a fourth-and-2, and we stopped them [at the Deerfield-Windsor 40-yard line with 14.4 seconds left]. They called time out to get their defense ready. I told my kids we’re calling the play we worked on, the home-run play. It’s the Boise State play, the one they used to beat Oklahoma [in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl]. I’m just trying to get across the [Brookwood] 33-yard line to give my kid a chance to kick it 50 yards. So many things had to happen right on that play. One is that the receiver catches it. Two is that he flips it. It hit the ground, and our receiver picked it up. He gets tackled and throws it behind his head. Now we’ve got two kids on the ground trying to get the ball, and if they get it, the game’s over because they’re on the ground. So our quarterback rips if from them before they get it. He’s a freshman. He’s got two guys draped on him, pulling him down, and he’s smart enough to throw it backward to our No. 1 running back, who one-handed catches it, turns and goes down the sideline and gets three blocks, probably illegal blocks. The crowd rushed the field, and I had eight parents run me over before I knew we were in the end zone. Flags were on the field and conversations are happening. It was not until the referee puts his hands up in the air for a touchdown that I exhaled.” [See the play here.]
2. What has been the reaction to that play and to the victory in your school community? “By the time we’re on bus riding home, MaxPreps had Tweeted the play. Our kids were excited about that. Our community is excited about it, but they’re also excited about these kids. Our starting quarterback goes down in week 10, and everybody wrote us off, ‘We can’t win without him.’ I didn’t necessarily disagree with them because he’s that good, and this freshman kid comes in, and these kids keep proving everybody wrong.”
3. What went into the decision for Deerfield-Windsor to return to GISA (GIAA)? Was it the same as the other schools, or was there something specific to Deerfield's situation? “When I got here [from Florida in 2020], they told me they were jumping to the GHSA. I didn’t know the difference. This was my first year in Georgia. They still play with 11, right? We took our lumps and learned what it meant real quick. We had a tough schedule. We kept a couple of teams on it this season but played a more competitive schedule. The reasoning for it was really that everybody jumped together. It wasn’t a domino effect. It was predetermined by all the athletic directors. We’re all going. If we had stayed, there wouldn’t be anybody left for us to play.” [Deerfield’s enrollment used for the GHSA’s 2020 reclassification was 188 students, making it the fourth-smallest football-playing school in the association. Competing now against schools with similar numbers, Deerfield-Windsor has improved its record to 10-2 from 3-7.]
4. Some might describe last week's final play a miracle, and some might say you need another one this week against John Milledge, a team on a 49-game winning streak. What is the challenge that you face in that game? “I’ve seen enough to know that we’ve got to go above and beyond to put a dent in them. Their coach is excellent. They’re disciplined, athletic and big. One of the coaches I talked to said, ‘Just so you know, they’re faster than they look on field.’ But we’re going to show up. We’re getting on the bus and heading there. I told my kids what I’ve told them since I got here. Play low, run with the football, stay onsides, hold onto the ball and then look up at the end of the game and see what the score is. That’s been our blueprint. Play as hard as we can with who can and next-man-up mentality as best we can. This senior class has grasped it well, and it’s going to be fun, that’s for sure. This opportunity is something they’ll never forget, especially in the way we got here.”