Golden Eagles grounded in opener
Not even a season-opening 48-0 home loss to the Governor Simcoe Redcoats Wednesday afternoon could wipe the smile off the face of Thorold Golden Eagles quarterback Mark Suntz.
“It is great. It is the best feeling ever. The best thing about high school is football,” the 17-year-old Thorold resident said. “It is the team and the community we have as a team. It is a great group of guys.”
The Grade 12 student wasn’t happy with the final result but getting to wear a Thorold uniform again was special.
“It was good to get out and play our first game. It wasn’t what we expected but we have a second game coming up,” said the 6-foot-3 180 pounder, who was a linebacker when Thorold last played football in 2019.
Thorold head coach Duane Kemp knows his team has lots to work on.
“We knew we were inexperienced and we weren’t sure what we were going to have. We got through it and I am happy about that,” he said. “It shows that we have to practise a little bit more and we got to move some players around.”
He described his team as a jigsaw puzzle.
“We are trying to find the pieces that fit in the right spots and it is a long season. This isn’t final or fatal by any means. We knew they were going to have some skill guys and their skill today was definitely better but I don’t think we showed what we can ultimately be.”
Thorold had solid numbers this season with 37 players on its roster.
“We are happy with that but we are very, very young,” Kemp said. “We had some Grade 9s and 10s get some heavy minutes today and a lot of the seniors we have out have never played before. It’s a lot of teaching right now and it’s trying to find the balance between hitting, the contact and getting it all going.
“We are thankful this isn’t the end of the year and hopefully we will grow and get better.”
Kemp enjoyed the sense of normalcy playing football again has brought to the school.
“It is nice to see the fans, the students and the former students out here.”
Helping Kemp coach are Ryan Cecchini, Andrew Dailey, Tyler Reid, Matt York and Michael Bosivert. All are former Thorold players.
Simcoe head coach Jamie Brophy was pleased with the performance of his team.
“It was great,” he said. “We had kids who didn’t have a lot of experience come out and really contribute and our best players were our best players. They really showed it out there today. And we had a number of kids who hadn’t done a lot before COVID and now that they are back playing football, they really demonstrated how much they’ve learned and how much they are willing to give to the program.”
The Redcoats also showed some solid depth at a number of positions.
“We have got some good numbers.” Brophy said. “We don’t have a lot of line depth but we have a lot of individuals willing to step up and play a lot of different spots. They had their helmets on on the sideline and they were ready to jump and that’s really encouraging.
“The depth also allows us to get everybody into the game which is really hard for a team of 50.”
STATS PACK
Redcoats 48 Golden Eagles 0
BPSN Player of the Game: Governor Simcoe’s Danny Lewis with TD runs of six, 11 and five yards and one TD pass.
For the Governor Simcoe Redcoats: Lewis, three rushing TDs; two-point convert on pass from Lewis to Nathan Kowcun; 21-yard TD pass Lewis to Ryan Segato; Keyontae Hart, TD runs of one and 15 yards; five-yard TD run by Connor Chmay-Smith; sack by Segato; and, interceptions by Matteo Martin-Hendsbee, Aidan Wellman, Segato and Joshua Campbell.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: No scoring.
Up next: In NRHSAA senior action Friday, Westlane is at Eden on the Governor Simcoe field at 3 p.m., St. Catharines Collegiate is at Centennial at 3 p.m.; and, A.N. Myer is at Greater Fort Erie Secondary School at 7 p.m.
