Myer tops BT in junior championship
The A.N. Myer Marauders junior football team earned a Metro Bowl quarter-final rematch at Brantford Collegiate Institute Tuesday thanks to a 37-8 win over the visiting Blessed Trinity Thunder in the Niagara championship game Wednesday night.
Last year, Brantford defeated A.N. Myer 14-12.
“The boys lost a real close game to them. They are always a good, well-coached team but our guys are looking forward to playing them,” Myer head coach Dave Buchanan said.
After a 4-0 regular season, Myer defeated Greater Fort Erie 31-0 in the NRHSAA semifinals and West Niagara 41-6 in the final to reach the Niagara championship.
“We are really talented. We have a lot of speed, we have some tough, aggressive kids and we’re not overly sized but that’s OK. They have big hearts and they are a close team. I think they like each other. They like coming to practice and joking around with each other but when they play football, they like to play football,” Buchanan said.
Myer’s offence scored a lot of points during the season but it was the Marauder defence that set the tone in the victory over Blessed Trinity. Myer held BT to only two first downs and 18 yards of net offence in the first three quarters of Wednesday’s game.
“The whole year the defence has been aggressive and our linebacking corps attacks the ball. Overall, it is an aggressive, fast defence and I will take speed over some size on any day,” Buchanan said.
Luis Ignacio Corredor Reyes, who scored a pair of majors against Blessed Trinity, had a simple explanation for Myer’s success.
“We are all family here and we treat each other with respect. We play as a team.”
Ignacio Corredor Reyes has been a big part of Myer’s success this season.
“He is a special player. That is a Grade 9 who is doing that in a game,” Buchanan said. “He had incredible speed, he is tough and he’s aggressive. I’ve seen him be overly aggressive in the past but what he has done is harness that.”
Ignacio Corredor Reyes agrees with that assessment.
“I try to look around and see if there is an open hole and before I would try and run through people,” the 5-foot-10, 150 pounder said. “I just have to use my speed.”
The 14-year-old, who helped the Niagara Generals travel team reach the semifinals this past summer, runs a 4.8-second 40-yard dash.
He feels he brings leadership skills to the team that he learned with the Generals.
After going 4-0 in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play, the Thunder defeated Saint Michael 31-0 in the semifinals and Notre Dame 20-0 in the final.
“The boys all bought in. Everyone has been at practice and they haven’t had a lunch since the season started because they have been coming in for meetings every day,” Thunder head coach Paul Fenech said. “They hold each other accountable and everyone plays hard. They are just a great group.”
The Thunder, who last won a junior title in 2017, were thrilled to qualify for the Metro Bowl play-in and Niagara championship against A.N. Myer.
“I am proud of all the boys and they fought hard. They earned their spot here and they all deserved to be here and it just wasn’t in our favour today.”
Fenech described Myer as a great team.
“A couple of missed tackles and missed blocks here and there and it didn’t swing in our favour but we will keep fighting and get ready for next year.”
STATS PACK
Marauders 37 Thunder 8
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Myer’s Luis Ignacio Corredor Reyes with a 55-yard punt return TD and a 75-yard TD run.
For the A.N. Myer Marauders: Ignacio Corredor Reyes, two TDs; Brett Wall, 55-yard TD pass from Ezra Ivory and a fumble recovery in the end zone for another major; 28-yard TD run by Tyson Louis-Charles.
For the Blessed Trinity Thunder: nine-yard TD run by Gabe Murray; two-point convert on pass to Murray from Jakob Stout; fumble recovery by Jack Tehrani; sack by Jon Luc Tersigni.
Game stats: First downs: ANM 11, BT 6. Net offensive yards: ANM 282, BT 85. Turnovers: ANM 1, BT 0. Penalties: ANM 8 for 25 yards, BT 9 for 34 yards.
Up next: Myer advances to the Metro Bowl quarter-finals Tuesday at Brantford Collegiate Institute.
