Eagles learning on the fly
Evan Reece’s size equals his joy of getting to play high school football once again.
“It is the best feeling in the world. Two years off was the worse thing that I have ever had. I missed my Grade 11 year and people say that it’s the best year you ever have because in Grade 12 you know it is your last year,” the 6-foot-3, 311-pound Grimsby lineman said Thursday, after helping the visiting Eagles improve to 2-1 in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association senior action with a 41-0 victory over the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints (0-3).
The Grade 12 student had to look elsewhere for his football fix.
“It was terrible. I had to play flag and that was not fun,” the 17-year-old said with a laugh. “I am ecstatic and over the moon that we are back.”
He feels football is a big part of his high school experience.
“To see how many students came out for the last game was crazy,” he said. “It was even after school and so many people came out.”
Reece’s brother moved on to play university football at Guelph but that is the last thing on his mind.
“If that opportunity arises maybe and we will see when we get there,” he said. “I am focused on this season.”
Like most high schools in Niagara, interest in football this season is high at Grimsby.
“We started with 65 players which is really a lot and we didn’t have enough gear,” Grimsby head coach Zack Silverthorne said. “We trimmed it down to 50 and we kept 18 juniors with hopes of a junior team next year when we amalgamate to the new West Niagara school. It is supposed to open in September 2022.”
Six of those junior players are starters with the defending Tier 2 champion Eagles.
“They have played a lot of minor football and flag football and they are good players,” he said.
Silverthorne attributes the excellent numbers to students looking for something to do.
“Boys volleyball had 20-something kids come out and everyone you talk to had 50 kids out,” he said. “We had over 300 people at our game because they are starved for something to do and something they are allowed to do such as being part of a team.”
Like other coaches, Silverthorne has seen an increased level of commitment from his players.
“We have guys who are hurt too and they are coming and helping out,” he said. “And this is great. We got every player in the game before halftime and that’s the goal.”
The other goal is to get better as the season moves along.
“We have four returning players and we are so green,” he said. “We are doing way more teaching than we are fitness. You lose one year and with that one year off they don’t even know the warmup. It’s stuff you take for granted.”
Collegiate coach Nathan Greene was happy with his team’s performance despite the loss.
“The score was one-sided but we made significant strides. There were times when we moved the ball effectively and on defence we had some stops,” he said. “Moving forward our goal will be to have more of these moments.”
Greene described Grimsby as super gracious.
“I want to publicly thank Zack for giving his younger players significant playing time,” he said. “It gave us the opportunity to compete against opponents that have comparable experience levels.”
STATS PACK
Eagles 41 Saints 0
BPSN Star of the Game: Grimsby’s defence with two pick sixes and two two-point safeties.
For the Grimsby Eagles: 31-yard TD run by Sean Gaka; one-yard TD run by Ryan Lapcevich; 50-yard interception return for TD by Connor McDougall; 15-yard TD run by Fernando D’Orazio; 15-yard interception return for TD by Tyler Soppet; 15-yard field goal by Ty Kellar; sacks by James Ellis, Connor Foster and Connor Stevenson.
For the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints: Cole Adshead, 4-11 passing for 32 yards and 17 yards rushing; Dalton Heus, five carries for 16 yards; Cam Scott, six carries for 44 yards; Jacob Gough, fumble recovery (third career game and he has caused a turnover in each game, including two interceptions); Connor Hammond and James Gunn had their first reps on defence and were standouts.
Game stats: Net offence: Grimsby 204, SCC 96. First downs: Grimsby 8, SCC 6. Turnovers: Grimsby 1, SCC 4. Penalties: Grimsby 5 for 20 yards, SCC 8 for 49 yards.
Up next: Thorold is at Eden and Governor Simcoe is at Sir Winston Churchill Friday at 3 p.m.; and, Greater Fort Erie is at Westlane and Centennial is at A.N. Myer Friday at 7 p.m.
