NORWALK -- He has one of the best quarterbacks in the state at his disposal in Jordan Vazzano, but in the fourth quarter of Friday's thriller against McMahon, the play-calling turned basic for St. Joseph football coach Joe DellaVecchia -- give the ball to Mufasa Abdul-Basir.

 

The strategy worked. The junior running back finished with a school record 268 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns as St. Joseph clinched a berth in the FCIAC championship game with a 42-35 victory.

 

"Yeah, he was going to keep getting the ball, it was just a matter of which way he was going to run," DellaVecchia said.

 

Out of 12 plays from scrimmage in the fourth quarter after McMahon tied it at 35, Abdul-Basir carried the ball on 11 of them. His 19-yard run with 7:42 proved the clincher.

 

"No one said it would be easy," an exhausted Abdul-Basir said after his 30-carry night. "I give credit to the offensive line. But I was really fired up hoping to get another shot at New Canaan."

 

St. Joseph will appear in its first FCIAC final Friday at 7:30 at Trumbull High. New Canaan beat the Cadets 62-21 earlier this season.

 

"I could see it in Mufasa before the game that he was really fired up," DellaVecchia said.

 

The Cadets (9-1, 7-1 FCIAC), who also clinched a spot in the Class M state playoffs, caught a break early when McMahon's Malik Whittaker fumbled a punt. Five plays later Abdul-Basir ran in from three yards out.

 

Later in the quarter McMahon's Tim Hinton scored from eight yards out to tie it.

 

St. Joseph then marched 64 yards with a Vazzano to Lars Pedersen 13-yard pass capping the drive for a 14-7 lead.

 

McMahon's Hinton then went 32 yards for the tying touchdown early in the second quarter before Abdul-Basir ended a 73-yard drive with a 2-yard run.

 

Later a 4-yard Vazzano to Mark Hirschbeck pass made it 27-14.

 

"I can't say how proud I am of my kids after being two scores down," McMahon coach AJ Albano said. "This was a state playoff game for us and we went toe to toe with a great team."

 

McMahon (7-2, 6-2) then put together an impressive 96-yard drive to open the second half. Kenny Keen finished it with a 7-yard TD run.

 

The Senators' next drive was nearly as impressive as they went 88 yards for the score.

 

Kentrell Snider scored on a 5-yard run to give the Senators a 28-27 lead.

 

It was short-lived, however. Two handoffs to Abdul-Basir for a total of 59 yards put St. Joseph back in the lead.

 

Back came the Senators, though, this time going 59 yards for the tying score, a 19-yard pass from Matt Downey to David Daniel.

 

But there was no stopping Abdul-Basir, who ran 19 yards for the go-ahead score with 7:42 remaining. The next McMahon drive stalled at the St. Joseph 14 when Dylan Ryan intercepted Downey on a fourth-and-6 at the Cadets 19.

 

ST. JOSEPH    14 13 8 7--42

 

MCMAHON    7 7 14 7--35

 

SJ-- Mufasa Abdul-Besir, 3 run (Kevin Bortnick kick)

 

BM--Tim Hinton, 8 run (Niko Petridis kick)

 

SJ--Lars Pederson, 9 pass from Jordan Vazzano (Bortnick kick)

 

BM--Hinton, 32 run (Petridis kick)

 

SJ--Abdul-Basir, 2 run (Bortnick kick)

 

SJ--Mark Hirschbeck, 4 pass from Vazzano (kick failed)

 

BM--Kenneth Keen, 3 run (Petridis kick)

 

BM--Kentrell Snider, 5 run (Petridis kick)

 

SJ--Abdul-Basir, 39 run (Joey Civitella pass from Vazzano)

 

BM--David Daniel,19 pass from Matt Downey(Petridis kick)

 

SJ--Abdul-Besir, 19 run (Bortnick kick)

 

Records: St. Joseph 9-1, 7-1 FCIAC; McMahon 7-2, 6-2