STARKVILLE — A scary moment played out at the end of the third quarter of Friday’s Class 1A championship, when game official Willie Newell collapsed on the sideline.

Newell began vomiting and convulsing after falling to the ground at the 30-yard line. He also briefly lost consciousness while medical personnel tended to him.

River Region Medical Center cardiologist Paul Pierce, whose son Jake plays for St. Aloysius, was down on the field with Newell. Pierce said medical personnel performed chest compressions, but did not use a defibrillator on Newell, who was taken off the field on a stretcher.

Pierce also helped administer an EKG shortly after the incident, and said the test appeared normal. Newell was transported to Oktibbeha County Hospital and appeared to be conscious and responsive as the stretcher took him away from the field.

“His EKG looked OK,” Pierce said. “So they took him to the hospital.”

St. Al coach BJ Smithhart was one of the first people to see Newell pass out and ran almost to midfield pointing to get the attention of trainers.

“He just felt lightheaded and fell out,” Smithhart said. “Then he just started vomiting and convulsed. It was scary, but nothing’s better than seeing him sitting up responsive and getting out of there.” Smithhart also praised Pierce and the medical staff working the game for their quick response.

“That was the scariest part of it was seeing the ref going down,” Smithhart said. “I thought the guy was dead. Dr. Pierce and the medical staff, they get the game ball. That guy was up and moving and got out of here.”

Cathedral shuts down Harris

DeMichael Harris is the unequivocal star of an explosive St. Aloysius team that averages 364 yards a game. As he goes, so do the Flashes. But an offense that is used to fireworks night in and night out resembled more of a bottle rocket in a 49-14 defeat to Cathedral in the Class 1A championship game.

Harris — who ran for more than 2,000 yards this season to set a school record — was held to just 40 rushing yards in the loss. The Green Wave proved they were the only team on St. Al’s schedule talented enough to stop the heartbeat of the team.

“They came out more fired up than us. They jumped on us pretty good,” Harris said. “I don’t think we came out with the intensity we should have came out with.”

St. Al was forced out of its rhythm early after giving up 21 second quarter points. The quick hole coupled with limited success on first and second down prevented the Flashes from ever establishing the run game that it has hung its hat on all season.

“It was very frustrating. That’s what we thrived off of was third and short all season,” Harris said. “They just took it away from us and we hadn’t been put in that predicament as much we probably needed to be in that predicament this season. We kind of didn’t know what to do when they did that.”

Rivalry renewed on biggest stage

St. Aloysius and Cathedral have squared off 52 times on the gridiron since 1938, but no past matchup was as monstrous as the one in Starkville Friday. The two private Catholic schools faced each other with a Class 1A title and an eternity of bragging rights hanging in the balance.

It definitely felt like a rivalry game.

Both schools brought loud crowds, each one trying to drown out the other before the opening coin toss.

The game itself had a fair share of chatter and chippiness too, and St. Al continued to battle without relenting even when the outcome had been decided well before the final whistle.

For junior DeMichael Harris, the loss was a motivational tool to come back next year with more intensity and drive.

“We’re going to come and get them next year,” Harris said. “We have a lot of key returnees. We’re going to miss some of our linemen and our quarterback, of course, but I think we’re going to be a whole team — a playoff team — and make a deep run again.”

St. Al finish the season with a 13-2 record, with both losses coming to its archrival. The defeats, which came in the first and last games of the season, were a tough bookend to a stellar season for the Flashes.

“Knowing I’m not going to be playing them again is going to be so strange,” senior center Bash Brown said. “I know a lot of their players. My family is originally from there, my dad’s side at least.”

Cathedral’s win Friday tied the all-time series at 26-26 — a fitting touch to the rivalry, even if it is hard to admit.

“As much as I hate it, yeah, it is,” Brown said. “As much as I hate it.”