Dirty Birds clinch home playoff date
The Thorold Golden Eagles rode a dream start Wednesday to a 29-15 road victory over the Westlane Spartans in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 2 football action.
In a span of about five minutes of the first quarter, Thorold built a 23-0 lead, thanks to a strip, fumble recovery and 40-yard return for a TD by Lucas Smith, a short TD run and two-point convert by Braiden Genest and a strip, fumble recovery and 35-yard return for a TD by Aiden Schmidt.
Smith’s TD is what got it all started.
“I flowed with the play and someone spun him around. I hooked my arm in there and I ripped it, spun out, had it with me and I took it for a touchdown.”
As he raced into the end zone, the 12B student had one thing on his mind.
“I was thinking this is the second touchdown (of career) today. We have twins on the team (Abraham and Issac Hierbert) and this is their first year and they have more career touchdowns than I do and I started on offence for three years,” the 18-year-old halfback/receiver said. “I was thinking I have to get a touchdown because I wanted to tie them.”
The tie, created by Smith’s first-ever defensive TD, didn’t last long as Abraham Hierbert scored his third career major in the second quarter.
Smith is enjoying his final year with the Golden Eagles.
“I came back just for football. I felt that my grade was kind of weak for football but most our team is 07s (2007 birth dates) and I thought that I could help them win this year.”
He is confident this year’s version of the Dirty Birds is capable of winning a Tier 2 championship.
“They want it more than last year, we are more experienced, we’re ready and as long as we can get Tyrese (Gibson) in the end zone we are going to win it. I feel that we have the best defence.”
Thorold head coach Duane Kemp loves having Smith on his squad.
“That play was absolutely amazing. We love Smitty. He is a fifth-year player who digs in every single day and works hard. I couldn’t be any happier for him because he is such a great kid. I am super proud of him.”
Westlane head coach Dean Mazzone was anything but super proud of his team’s brutal start.
“We can’t spot them two or three touchdowns and expect to win the game. We had too many mistakes, we came out flat and it showed from the very beginning.”
It was not the start he was expecting.
“You really don’t know until the first series but you could tell right away. The first play they almost got a Pick 6 and you could see it snowball from there,” he said. “I hope that this is a wake-up call for us because we have a game against them next week. After the first half, we did fairly well. We settled down and played a better game, not a perfect game, and hopefully we carry that over to next week.”
Kemp loved his team’s start but knows his team has to play much better if it’s going to knock off Westlane in the semifinals.
“It was a dream start off the hop but we have to maintain the intensity. We know Westlane is well coached and we know that they are not going to quit. We see that they have lots of weapons and obviously it became a much closer game than we wanted,” he said. “I am happy we were able to hold on and get the W.”
Thorold (4-1), which accepted a defeat against Governor Simcoe in a game last week that was cut short by an injury, clinched home field advantage with Wednesday’s road win against Westlane (3-2)
“It’s a huge, big deal,” Kemp said. “We talk and preach about working hard so we can play on our home field. Obviously it is a unique situation playing on our field and Westlane is going to have to adjust to that. Getting a home playoff game is something to take pride in. These guys work their butts off every single night and that hard work pays off. We are excited that hopefully the Thorold community can come out and cheer us on.”
STATS PACK
Golden Eagles 29 Spartans 15
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Thorold’s Braiden Genest with a TD, two-point convert and a strong game running the ball.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Lucas Smith, strip, fumble recovery and 40-yard return for a TD; Braiden Genest, one-yard TD run and two-point convert on pass from Kaleb Locatelli; Lucas Smith, strip, fumble recovery and 40-yard return for a TD; Aiden Schmidt, strip, fumble recovery and 35-yard return for a TD; Abraham Hierbert, 20-yard TD run; Will Sargeant, Rasaam Hooshmand and Maharaj with interceptions; and, Elijah Williams, batted ball.
For the Westlane Spartans: Jacob Ranger, five-yard TD run; Quinn Kryski, four-yard TD run; Matt Bowen, two-point convert on run; Gavin Bailey, single point on punt; O’Shane Hall; fumble recovery; Cam Parlee, interception; Ryan Dionne, sack for 17-yard loss.
Game stats: First downs: Thorold 9, Westlane 13. Net offensive yards: Thorold 209, Westlane 239. Penalties: Thorold 5 for 40 yards, Westlane 6 for 23 yards.
