Game-winning Hail Mary sends Clifton Park Bills to semifinal round of NFL FLAG Championships

CANTON, OHIO (NEWS10) -- Back in March, the RFP Patriots - a boys flag football team based out of Clifton Park - won a regional tournament put on by the Buffalo Bills. With that, RFP qualified for the 14U NFL Flag Championships in Canton, Ohio.

Operating under the name "Clifton Park Bills" for the tournament, the squad now finds itself two wins away from staking their claim as the top group of youth flag football players in the nation. That opportunity would not be present, though, if not for an answered prayer Saturday at the NFL Hall of Fame Village.

Trailing by one point with 14 seconds remaining in the quarterfinal round, Clifton Park quarterback Brady Von Schiller connected with wide receiver Sean Finnegan on a 27-yard Hail Mary for the go-ahead touchdown, lifting the Bills to an 18-13 victory over the Henderson Raiders out of Nevada.

Clifton Park was fortunate just to get a pass up. Von Schiller had to make an athletic play to corral what was a high snap, and in the face of a Raiders rusher, the Christian Brothers Academy rising freshman launched a near-perfect ball from his own 15-yard line into the end zone, only to have a fellow CBA Brother pull it down.

"I was pretty scared when that snap went over my head," said Von Schiller. "I'm glad I caught it. [I] looked down the field and saw Sean and my other receiver, Alex [Rivera]. [I] just threw it up and hoped for the best."

"They (Henderson) weren't really playing a prevent defense," added Finnegan. "I saw two safeties that were split pretty far out wide. I kinda just ran towards the middle; tried to run away from everyone. They kinda got trapped behind me, and I could just box them out. [I] went up there and caught it."

The game clock still read ":06" after the score. But Rivera managed to run out the remaining time on the ensuing one-point conversion, and the team rushed to celebrate their storybook journey continuing one more day.

"I mean, that's kind of been the story since March," said Finnegan. "Out of playoff games, the last, like, 10 we've just come back in the second half and won. We're more of a second-half team I would say. That's just kinda how we operate."

Two other Bills outside of Finnegan were responsible for touchdowns. Cam Hemingway had a 30-yard catch-and-run on Clifton Park's opening possession to get the team out to a 6-0 lead. The Raiders responded and took a 7-6 edge into halftime, but a seven-yard TD catch from Jacob Turner - set up by a 26-yard reception from Rivera - reclaimed the Bills a 12-7 advantage.

Clifton Park now awaits arguably the top squad in the tournament in the semifinals: the representative of the Jaguars, from Jacksonville, Florida. But the Bills are embracing the challenge.

"They have the top player in 2028, I think. He's gotten offers from every college in the country, and that's all everybody's talking about," said head coach Jeffery Jones. "But the message is simple: "They have to play us." That's the attitude I want these kids to have. Be the predator; be the hunter; be the one going out and taking the win. We're gonna take it right to 'em, and the chips are going to fall where they are."

Clifton Park and Jacksonville will square off at noon Sunday on ESPN.