ST. MARYS – Exciting. Heartbreaking. Incredible.

That would describe the ending of the Elk County Catholic-Brockway football game Friday night.

Trailing 23-18 and facing a fourth-and-11 from the Brockway 18-yard line with 10 seconds to play, ECC quarterback Bobby Pearsall found Andrew Blashock with the game-winning scoring pass lifting the Crusaders (4-4) to a stunning 24-23 win over the Rovers (4-4).

The ending was probably fitting for two teams that are heading in opposite directions. ECC has won three straight while Brockway has dropped two straight and four of its past five since staring the season 3-0.

What made the ending of Friday night’s game even more stunning was that the Rovers were unstoppable early on scoring on their first three possessions while taking a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, lead they held at halftime.

But in the second half, ECC came alive cutting the lead to 17-12 on a 32-yard run by Pearsall with 5:32 left in the third quarter.

Then with 4:00 left in the game, Pearsall hit Matt Eckert with a 10-yard pass to give the Crusaders an 18-17 lead.

But Brockway rallied and appeared like it would salvage the win when Andy Martino scored on an 8-yard run with 1:49 left to play.

Pearsall, though, gave the Crusaders big lift with a long kickoff return to near midfield and Shane Funair broke off a 22-yard run that became a 27-yard pickup thanks to a face masking call.

ECC then moved the ball to the 15-yard line before the Brockway defense came up with a big sack. But Pearsall was able to stay composed and find Blashock for the game-winning score.

Funair led ECC with 91 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Pearsall was 6-for-10 for 72 yards and two touchdowns while throwing an interception. Eckert had four grabs for 35 yards and a score.

Jeremy Sickeri led Brockway with 59 yards rushing and a touchdown. But one again the Rovers offense struggled managing just 112 total yards of offense including only 95 on the ground on 32 carries (2.97 yards per carry).