Wildcat win for Golden Eagles
With a berth in the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 2 senior football championship game hanging in the balance Friday night against the visiting Westlane Spartans, the Thorold Golden Eagles put the ball in the hands of Braiden Genest.
Trailing 3-0 at the end of a half where the Golden Eagles turned the ball over five times and only had 49 yards of net offence, Thorold started the second half with Genest taking snaps in the wildcat formation.
The move worked to perfection to open the second half with Genest handling every run on a 45-yard drive, capped by a five-yard TD run that gave Thorold a 6-3 lead.
Genest opened Thorold’s next drive with an eight-yard run and with Westlane paying more attention to him, speedster Tyrese Gibson had a little extra space to work with and was able to break away for 41-yard TD burst that boosted the lead to 12-3. Two possessions later, Thorold started on its own 17-yard line where a couple more Genest runs set up Gibson for a 48-yard TD run. Late in the fourth quarter, a five-yard TD run by Genest made the final score 26-3.
“They came out in that wildcat and that No. 22 (Genest) took over the game. We didn’t have an answer for him,” Westlane head coach Dean Mazzone said. “They wore us down and getting behind two scores definitely made it more difficult for us to climb that mountain. It is what it is.”
Thorold head coach Duane Kemp said there was no secret to the second-half turnaround that saw his team chalk up 206 yards of net offence.
“We rode Braiden and Tyrese, our two backs, and just like last year they carried the load. I am proud of the guys,” he said. “We didn’t have a good first half and weren’t sharp mentally but we stayed with it. We knew Westlane was going to be tough and dialled in.”
No one was more dialled in in the second half than Genest.
“He is a heart and soul guy and he gives it everything he’s got. He has overcome a broken knee cap in his Grade 9 year and he fights and claws and plays with so much effort and passion,” Kemp said. “I am very thankful to have him on our side and he carried us. He put the team on his shoulders and it was fun to watch.”
Genest was up for the challenge.
“The first half we were just not ready but I had heart to go in there. I didn’t think losing was an option at all. I didn’t have one bit of my heart thinking that we would lose,” he said. “The coaches got us in the mood to set the pace for the second half and I went out there, listened to the coaches and I did what I had to do. Great thanks to the O line for their great blocks and Tyrese taking over the field as well. It was fantastic.”
Told at halftime the team was going to use the wildcat formation, the Grade 12 player was ready.
“I was so excited. We have been practising it for two weeks straight now and I knew it was something special.”
The 17-year-old wanted the ball in his hands.
“Since I have been playing football for so long, I know how good it feels to win and I have it in my heart that I always want to win,” the 5-foot-7, 175-pounder said. “I don’t want to let anyone down.”
His knee injury is now a distant memory.
“I have been playing football since the age of seven and I never had an injury like that and didn’t know how to deal with it. But I had great people around me, especially coach Kemp and he helped me a lot. I also had a great medical team.”
The knee healed up over the winter of his Grade 9 year and he returned to football the following year in minor football’s junior varsity league.
“I played scared and I told myself I couldn’t do that. I need to do what I was doing before and play focused in.”
He has done just that.
Kemp is excited to get another shot at Governor Simcoe in next week’s championship game.
“I will have to make sure we have no injuries or anything like that but we are growing and building. I hope we’ve got a good shot against them next week and this is where we want to be: the last game of the season with a shot at a championship,” he said. “I am excited for that.”
Genest feels there is one main thing that makes the Golden Eagles a team to reckon with.
“We are a brotherhood and we are so close.”
Mazzone described the Spartans’ season as a mixed one.
“We had some real positive things that happened and then some negative things,” he said. “We lose a few players but we have some nice juniors coming up. They should step up and be big contributors next year.”
STATS PACK
Golden Eagles 26 Spartans 3
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Thorold’s Braiden Genest with a pair of five-yard TD runs and a dominating rushing game in the second half.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Genest, two TDs; Tyrese Gibson, TD runs of 41 and 48 yards; Kyle Stephens, interception; Venstone Denave, tackle to force turnover on downs.
For the Westlane Spartans: Gavin Bailey, 10-yard field goal and interception; Chaun-dre Richards, interception; Owen Lemoine, interception.
Game stats: First downs: Thorold 12, Westlane 5. Net offensive yards: Thorold 255, Westlane 178. Turnovers: Thorold 5, Westlane 3. Penalties: Thorold 6 for 50 yards, Westlane 8 for 60 yards.
Up next: Thorold advances to the Tier 2 championship game Friday at 5 p.m. against the host Governor Simcoe Redcoats.
