A Saugus catch too good to bear to watch

It was probably the greatest catch in Saugus history and Coach Jason Bornn didn’t even see it.

“I saw Desi [Rodriguez] throw the ball up, but I couldn’t watch what would happen,” Bornn said. “I just waited for the crowd to react and when I heard something, I turned my head and saw the ref was holding his hands up… I missed it, but what I did see will stay stuck in my mind.”

I’m sure Bornn is probably feeling a little regret for missing Chris Aaron’s game-winning, 46-yard TD catch with no time left on the clock, but at least he knows his guys are capable of challenging some of the area’s top teams with their 33-28 upset over perennial power Westlake.

More importantly, Saugus now has to be considered among the upper echelon of Northern Division teams -– a status the boys over on Centurion Way are still getting used to this weekend since breaking out from behind the shadows of Foothill League titans Hart and Canyon.

But let’s not get too far head ourselves. Bornn will be the first to tell you that league play is still a month away.

“It’s too early to tell what we’ll do [when league starts], but we’ve played some good games so far,” he said. “We need to learn from this and see what we did right and what went wrong for us.”

Here’s what went right: Saugus dominated the first half and, at one point, led 27-0 after holding Westlake to around 50 yards of total offense. However, a series of defensive missteps coupled with the Warriors’ ability to “load up on us and stop the run,” helped Westlake get back into the game, Bornn said.

Saugus showed its resiliency by getting the ball back with less than a minute left and driving into Westlake territory. Of course, by that time there were only four seconds on the clock.

“At first [Westlake] was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty and we thought we’d be in field-goal range,” Bornn said, “But then we had offset penalties because we got called for intentionally grounding after Desi threw it out of bounds. That’s when I knew it would be tough.”

After telling Rodriguez to “throw it in the end zone,” he instructed his receivers, Aaron, Ryan Zirbel and Mario Wright to be there once the ball came down. It was a simple, desperate play he couldn’t watch, but he'll live with the results.

“It was just wonderful to experience,” Bornn said, “and it’s great for Aaron. When he’s 70 years old, it’s something he can tell his grandkids.”

- Austin Knoblauch