Fighting Irish top Myer in junior football championship
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish rode the playmaking abilities of quarterback Jacob Tessier to a 22-6 victory over the A.N. Myer Marauders in the Niagara junior football championship game Thursday night at Kiwanis Field.
Tied 0-0 at the half, the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association champion Fighting Irish saw Tessier throw a pair of touchdown passes and run for another to help his squad knock off the defending champions.
“He’s the leader of the team,” Notre Dame head coach Rob Moschella said. “In the second half after he gave a locker room talk, he came to play his game.
“He motivated himself and the others.”
The 14-year-old said his coach’s half-time talk was what helped turn the game around
“He told the guys to relax and we got them,” Tessier said. “He knew they were tired going into the half and he knew we could run them up the middle . He pretty much said calm down and tire them out.”
The Grade 9 quarterback listened to his coach and mentally and physically regrouped for the second half.
“I had more confidence going into the second half and I got used to the weather and the footing,” he said. “Our whole team came together in the second half with our O line blocking and the rest of the guys playing as a unit and not as individuals.”
Thursday’s snowy conditions made it tough for both teams.
“The weather was unbelievably hard for us, but when we needed the grip, we got it,” Moschella said.
Notre Dame went a perfect 4-0 in NCAA regular season play, outscoring its opponents 143-32 along the way. The Fighting Irish then dumped Denis Morris 44-7 in the semifinals and Saint Paul 31-8 in the NCAA championship game.
“It feels great to win a championship in Grade 9, especially with four years ahead (of us),” Tessier said. “With the great group of guys that we have, I think we can go all the way all four years.”
The Niagara Region High School Athletic Association champion Marauders, who made it to the Metro Bowl semifinals last year, went 3-1 in regular season play before blanking Centennial 41-0 in the semifinals and edging previously-beaten Greater Fort Erie 17-7 in the NRHSAA championship game.
“It was a tight game until there was about four minutes left,” Myer head coach Jamie French said of Thursday’s final. “It was tough getting going on offence. We like to throw a little more and it was tough conditions for us.”
Despite the loss, French was more than happy with his team’s season.
“It was a great group of kids and I am really proud of them, but Notre Dame played a great game,” he said.
Many of the Myer players will be moving to senior next year, but with a roster of 54 kids, there are plenty of replacements ready to step into bigger roles.
STATS PACK
Irish 22 Marauders 6
Johnny Rocco’s Mick and Angelo’s Star of the Game: Notre Dame’s Jacob Tessier with two TD passes, a TD run, a pass for a two-point convert and a run for a two-point convert.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: nine-yard TD pass from Jacob Tessier to Dayshawn Johnson; 50-yard TD pass from Tessier to Adrian D’Gyves; two-point convert on run by Tessier; 57-yard TD run by Tessier; two-point convert on pass from Tessier to D’Gyves.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: 26-yard TD pass from Drake Somerville to Eugene Park.
