NCAA football: Irish, Mustangs, Reds record victories
The Niagara Catholic Athletic Association defending champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 28-13 victory over the Saint Paul Patriots (2-2).
Notre Dame’s offence chalked up 447 total yards in the win and its defence forced six turnovers, including three interceptions.
“We have had to battle with a bunch of injuries and players out with illness. It has been tough for our guys to get into a rhythm and our timing has been poor this year,” Notre Dame head coach Tim Bisci said. “It’s been tough to run our offence and defence schemes when kids have been away.”
He felt his squad looked confused at times during the victory over Saint Paul.
“We need to put more work in and be more disciplined if we are going to continue to be successful,” Bisci said. “The teams we face the rest of the year are going to give us their best and we have to be better as a group if we want to win games.”
Leading the way for the Irish were: Jake Tessier with 20 carries for 155 yards and TD rushes of three and six yards; Marshall McCray with seven carries for 161 yards, including 20-yard and 60-yard TD runs, and 5-9 passing for 108 yards; Dylan Correia with two converts; Tessier with a two-point convert pass to Wyatt Brown; Colten Kizlyk with two interceptions; and, Breton Pearce with a single pick.
Saint Paul’s majors came on a 20-yard run from Elijah Pappin and a 35-yard run by Jacob Jackson.
Playing well on defence for the Patriots were Marco Grouse, Davion Gordon, John Campbell and Carter Yott.
“Tim Bisci’s Notre Dame defence prepared very well and seem to be one step ahead of our offence,” Saint Paul head coach Rick Oreskovich said. “Saint Paul’s defence played well and gave forth an excellent effort.”
MUSTANGS 22 GATORS 6
The Saint Michael Mustangs senior football team improved to 2-3 in NCAA play with a 22-6 victory over the Lakeshore Catholic Gators.
“Saint Michael took many penalties that took away many positive yards. Our team needs more disciplined if we are going to beat Denis Morris this Friday,” Mustangs head coach Brian Carter said. “We have challenged the players to pay more attention to the little details to be successful, show better attendance and to work harder while at practices.”
Scoring for the Mustangs were: Angel Diaz on a touchdown pass from Austin MacRae; Gio Giampa, who blocked a punt and recovered it for a 40-yard touchdown; and, Connor Cavey who recorded an interception and ran it back for a touchdown.
For Lakeshore Catholic, Max Annunziata caught a 40-yard TD pass from Nick Jubenville and Zach Cole recorded an interception.
“We played a strong game defensively with multiple sacks and Zach’s interception,” Lakeshore head coach Bernie Tessier said. “Offensively, we performed better. Our O-line stepped up and we had an excellent game from new running back Henry Black.”
REDS 33 RAIDERS 20
The Denis Morris Reds senior football team improved to 2-2 on the season with a 33-20 victory over the Holy Cross Raiders (1-4).
“It was an outstanding game for our defence and we had a strong offensive performance,” Denis Morris head coach Any Cecchini said.
No scoring details were available for the Reds.
“On a cold wet day, the DM running game was able to move the ball while Holy Cross’s passing game was stalled by the weather,” Holy Cross head coach Gerry DiSanto said.
The Reds led by 30 points at the half before the Raiders put some offence together led by quarterback Jackson Stewart.
Jack Wilson scored a pair of majors for the Raiders and Stewart added a single TD.
Earlier last week, the Reds recorded a 13-3 victory over the Lakeshore Catholic Gators.
“It was an amazing game by Matteo DiGiovanni with an interception and fumble recovery,” Cecchini said.
