High school football: Irish, Patriots, Gryphons and Redcoats win
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team improved to 2-0 in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play Wednesday with a 42-7 victory over the visiting Lakeshore Catholic Gators (0-2).
Contributing to the victory were: Marshall McCray, 6-10 passing for 136 yards, including 30-yard TD passes to Jake Tessier and Adrian D’Yves, and six rushes for 110 yards, including TD runs of 35 and two yards; D’Yves, three catches for 87 yards and a TD, and an interception; Patrick Scully and Colten Kizlyk, pick sixes; Dylan Correia, interception and five converts; Tessier, two-point convert; Anthony Felice, 52 yards rushing; and, backup QB Dayshawn Johnson, 2-2 passing for 34 yards.
Lakeshore Catholic scored on a pass from Nick Jubenville to Max Annunziata. Owen Embleton kicked the extra point.
“After a difficult first half, our kids rose to the challenge and won the second half. We are pretty proud of them for that,” Lakeshore coach Bernie Tessier said.
PATRIOTS 27 MUSTANGS 5
The Saint Paul Patriots senior football team evened its NCAA record at 1-1 with a 27-5 victory over the Saint Michael Mustangs (1-2).
Contributing to the victory for Saint Paul were: Elijah Pappin, 25-yard TD run; Matteo Canakis, 20-yard touchdown pass from Matt Murray; Julian Mangiacasale, 35-yard TD run; Lucas Vetere, 20-yard TD run and three converts; offensive linemen Donavin Doucette, Jake Costible, Niko Herjavac, Mark Gimmi -Matthew and Adam McBride and running backs Staja Williams Cristiano Colamartini who played well; the receiving corps of Matteo Canakis, Daniel Scoof and Jacob Jackson who were effective in helping the offence move the ball; captain Jack Bush who led the defence with an interception; and, Mike Schram and James Zarafonitis who made some great plays on defence.
No information was available from Saint Michael.
NIAGARA REGION HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL
GRYPHONS 10 WOLPACK 7
The Greater Fort Erie Gryphons senior football team pushed its Niagara Region High School Athletic Association record to 3-0 with a 10-7 victory over the visiting West Niagara Wolfpack.
“That was a huge game and win for us. West Niagara is a big, tough team and we matched their toughness and intensity,” GFESS head coach Dave Sauer said. “Jumping up on them early was a huge boost for us. We tried to control the clock and make some plays. There are too many players to mention who stepped up today and played big games. We were down some players and the next man stood up. Proud of this team and their effort in all three phases of the game.”
Steven Phillips scored the major for the Gryphons and Bo Train added a field goal and a convert. Xander Boake recovered a short kickoff and Garrett Sauer recovered a defensive fumble.
Leading the way for the Wolfpack were: Tyler Foster with 17 carries for 139 yards; Ryden Lapcevich, two carries for 10 yards, including a four-yard TD run; Xavier Zatylny, 3-11 passing for 48 yards; Connor Foster with a sack and fumble recovery; Connor McDougall with a fumble recovery; and, Murray Hildreth with a sack.
“We couldn’t have come out more flat. We gave up 10 points on the first two drives,” West Niagara head coach Zack Silverthorne said. “Once again, penalties cost us yards on special teams and extended drives for their offence and another offensive turnover with under three minutes left to play in the red zone sealed our fate.”
He feels his squad has to execute much better in the passing game so it can meet its potential.
“Gotta love high school football,” Silverthorne said. “We’re so close to being 3-0 but our lack of attention to detail is really showing it’s ugly head at the worst possible times.”
REDCOATS 35 SAINTS 0
The Governor Simcoe Redcoats varsity football team improved to 2-1 in NRHSAA Tier 2 play with a 35-0 shutout of the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints (0-2).
“Following a tough loss last week to Thorold, we had a great week of practice. The team came out strong with the touchdown kickoff return by Carter Small and the Redcoats kept the pressure on with great team defence,” Simcoe head coach Jamie Brophy said. “All players had the opportunity to play and contribute to the victory.”
Small finished the game with a 110 yard kickoff return for a major on the opening kickoff and TD runs of three and 10 yards. Also recording majors for the Redcoats were Sam Wilson on a three-yard run and Noah Budgell on a two-yard quarterback keeper.
For Collegiate: Cole Adshead was 4-14 passing for 38 yards; Kadmiel Patrong had two receptions for nine yards; first-year player Eddie McTague had his first reception for 18 yards; Seth Brown had an interception; and, Grade 9 player Ramier Eaton was Collegiate’s top tackler with six tackles, including two for losses.
“The first 10 minutes of the game could not have been more one-sided. It was like we did not even show up to start the game: poor lane integrity on special teams; missed assignments on offence; and, terrible tackling on defence,” Collegiate head coach Nathan Greene said.
The result had the Saints trailing 21-0 five minutes into the game.
“In the past, we would have pointed fingers at one and other, in-fighting would lead to players giving up and the result would be a 60-plus deficit. We did not do this today,” he said. “The defence got things sorted out and only gave up another 14 points the rest of the game. Offensively we could not find our rhythm. We struggled at times but there was no quit and I am proud of that. The shortcomings have easy corrections. We will dedicate the time to fix them and we will be stronger for having this experience.”
