Shown here as a senior at Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.), Mike Bercovici completed the pass of the day, and perhaps season, a 46-yard completion to Jaelen Strong on the final play of ASU's miraculous 38-34 win over USC Saturday night.
File photo by Jose L Marin
and
Jaelen Strong shared little during their high school days.
Bercovici was a highly recruited quarterback from the West Coast at
Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.) in Southern California.
Strong was a little-known receiver from the East Coast at
West Catholic (Philadelphia).
Jaelen Strong as a senior at West Catholic.
Phile photo by Ron Silani
On Saturday, they become connected forever in Arizona State football folklore, as they hooked up on a 46-yard Hail Mary pass on the very last play to break USC's back with a stunning 38-34 win at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.
For Bercovici, a replacement for injured starter Taylor Kelly, it was a homecoming of sorts. Woodland Hills is 28 miles from Los Angeles and he had plenty of family and friends on hand.
"It was a little bit of a prayer to be honest," he told
reporters after the game.
See video of the playASU coach Todd Graham said: "Throwing it to Jaelen Strong, you have a good chance."
That's because the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Strong lives up to his namesake. He's big and strong and had 75 catches for 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore for ASU.
As a senior had West Catholic, he had just 17 catches for 318 yards and four touchdowns for the run-hungry squad. He had 24 catches for 385 yards and four TDs as a junior. Under-recruited, he attended Pierce College in Southern California and had 67 catches for 1,263 yards and 15 touchdowns in 10 games as a freshman before transferring to ASU.
At Taft as a senior, Bercovici completed 240 of 399 passes for 3,755 yards and 37 touchdowns. He was the No. 91 recruit overall in the nation as a senior and No. 7 quarterback.
Strong said as shocking as the Hail Mary completion was, it wasn't by accident.
"It's a play we work on every week," he told reporters. "Coach Graham says all the time: You never know what this game can come down to. It's a game of inches."
And sometimes unlikely connections.
