Hemauer and Pearcey named Niagara Catholic MVPs
Notre Dame’s Everett Hemauer was named the Niagara Catholic senior football league’s offensive player of the year.
The Niagara Catholic Athletic Association senior football champions from Notre Dame swept the offensive and defensive awards as selected in year-end polling by the league’s coaches.
Everett Hemauer was named the league’s offensive player of the year while linebacker Breton Pearcey was selected as the best in the league on offence.
Irish running back Hemauer narrowly edged dynamic Saint Francis receiver Trent Dobson in a tight vote. In a voting process that awards three points for a first-place vote, two for a second and three for a third, Hemauer finished with 13 points and Dobson with 12. Also nominated for the award were Saint Michael’s Austin MacRae, Saint Paul’s Julian Mangiacasale, Denis Morris’ Cole Kelly and Blessed Trinity’s Jake Portolesi.
Hemauer was more of a blocking back last season playing in the shadow of 2023 league MVP Justin Savoie. “He learnt the offence last year and really improved over the off-season. He is a tough, quick running back that can break the big play at any point in the game,” Notre Dame head coach Tim Bisci said. “We didn’t throw the ball as much as we would like to and defences knew the run was coming. Everett was able to get big yards against stacked run defences and it made us a better team. He has a final year of eligibility and if he works hard in the off-season, he will be a very scary running back in 2025.”
Pearcey grabbed the top offensive award with 12 points on the strength of three first-place votes. Saint Francis’ Sadiekie Hayden finished second with eight points and Saint Michael’s Jacob Shannon was third with seven points. Also nominated for the award were Saint Paul’s Jake Costabile, Blessed Trinity’s Jack Szarko and Denis Morris’ Alessandro Albano.
“Breton came out in Grade 11 and just started making plays. In his first games at senior against provincially top-ranked Nelson High School and Huron Heights, he had two picks and a fumble return for a TD. We knew early we had a player that could be really good,” Bisci said. “He really trained hard in the off-season for his final year and we moved him from defensive back to linebacker. He didn’t miss a beat. He anchored a defence that played very well in the regular season. He understands concepts, he can play pass coverage and really played strong against the run. I think he is a kid that could really grow into a position at the university level.”
Below are the league’s all-stars:
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Dylan Correia, LB; Dustin Dulmage, DB; Everett Hemauer, RB Trent Groulx, WR/DB; Matt Moxon, OL; Breton Pearcey LB; Payton Stegner, OL; Cole Stewart, LB; Ben Tsanoff, QB; and, Josh Young, DB.
Saint Francis Phoenix: Trent Dobson, Sadiekie Hayden, Cameron Mepham, Elijah Jama, Jimmy Harb, Carter Dmytrow, Jhovanny Orellana and Gavin Paxton.
Blessed Trinity Thunder: Jake Portolesi, QB; Jack Szarko, OL/DL/RB; Corbin Wong, DB/Rec; Tyson Wong, DB/Rec; Anthony Faustini, OL/DL; and, Adam Pereira, OL/DL.
Saint Paul Patriots: Julian Mangiacasale, RB; Luke Berezowski, WR; Jake Costabile, OG; Blake Mckinnon, LB; Damien Decembrini, DT; and, Jake Costabile, DE.
Denis Morris Reds: Alessandro Albano, Matthew Castellan, Cole Kelly, Sam Kramar, Lincoln Marsh-Hall and Travis Palmer.
Saint Michael Mustangs: Jacob Shannon, Thomas Dallman, Austin MacRae and Ashton Nyadiwa.
