Injuries can’t derail Irish
All season long it has been next man up for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team.
In Thursday’s Niagara Catholic Athletic Association championship game against the visiting Saint Michael Mustangs it was more of the same.
When Irish touchdown machine Justin Savoie went down in the first quarter with an upper body injury, Grade 11 player Everett Hemauer had to step up and be the primary ball carrier.
The 15-year-old didn’t disappoint, recording touchdown runs of 99 and 49 yards to lead the defending champion Irish to a 45-7 triumph.
“I knew I was his backup and I knew I had to play well for the team. If we won this game we got to go on,” the 5-foot-8 160 pounder said.
Hemauer has a no-nonsense style he brings to the football field.
“I see a hole and I go to it.”
Last season, he was the starting running back and middle linebacker for the Irish junior football team. He has been an offensive starter all season for Notre Dame and has also seen some reps on defence at linebacker.
He was more than happy to get a lot more touches on the offensive side of the ball.
“I loved it. I love running the ball and it feels really good. I feel that I should be running more.”
Notre Dame won the game handily thanks to a number of big plays.
“We had a couple guys go down, other guys stepped up and that has been the way it has gone all year. When our guys had to step up, they made plays,” Irish head coach Tim Bisci said.
Injuries have been a familiar part of this NCAA football season.
“I think our whole league had been snakebit with injuries. You look at BT. Saint Paul took a beating. Those are good football teams and we would have had a really good league if guys had stayed healthy,” he said.
Notre Dame had scoring plays of 110, 99, 70 and 49 yards.
“We got it from all facets and the kids all just stepped up and the next guy up made a play,” Bisci said.
He is hoping Savoie will be able to play next week but if not he knows Hemauer is ready for the challenge.
“He is a pretty exciting back for us and it was exciting to watch him play. He made a couple of big time runs that really busted stuff up.”
There’s a lot to like about Hemauer.
“He plays hard and he is a dynamic guy that brings a lot of energy and makes a lot of plays,” Bisci said. “I like his athleticism and his quickness is impressive.”
The Mustangs were done in by a plethora of mistakes.
“That should be the title of the article. Too many mistakes,” Saint Michael head coach Brian Carter said. “Three fumbles, six dropped balls, we have great field position and they are running against the win and they have a 99-yard touchdown and we had substitutions at critical points that really put us in a position where it was tough to be successful.”
It was a recipe for disaster.
“When you are playing the defending champions. We told the guys that we have to play mistake-free football and we just didn’t do that.”
Saint Michael will now play Westmount next Wednesday in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association semifinals.
“We get a second chance and there is always going to be an opportunity to improve,” Carter said. “We need some significant improvement but they are very talented team and I think we are going to have to be more disciplined in all facets of the game to have an opportunity to be successful.”
Saint Michael continues to take strides with its senior football team. Last year in its first year back at the senior level it won the third-place game.
“The big picture is obviously pleasing that we are improving as a program, for sure,” he said. “It is always a great experience to come to a NCAA championship game and see what kind of discipline and execution is required to actually hoist the trophy. Everything is a learning experience and that is the way we are going to approach it.”
STATS PACK
Fighting Irish 45 Mustangs 7
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Notre Dame’s Everett Hemauer with two long TD runs.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 99-yard and 49-yard TD runs by Hemauer; one-yard TD run Justin Savoie; 70-yard kick return major by Trent Groulx; 110-yard kick return by Jordan Huggins; six-yard TD run by Ben Tsanoff; 15-yard field goal by Dylan Correia; two-point safety conceded by St. Mike’s; fumble recovery and sack by Cole Stewart fumble recovery by Liam Letourneau; interception by Breton Pearcey; sack by Wyatt Brown.
For the Saint Michael Mustangs: two-yard TD run by Luka Cuthbert; sack by Jacob Shannon.
Game stats: First downs: ND 9, SM 6. Net offensive yards: ND 271, SM 91. Turnovers: ND 0, SM 3. Penalties: ND 10 for 80 yards, SM 5 for 50 yards.
Up next. Both teams advance to the SOSSA semifinals next Wednesday at Notre Dame. Saint Michael will play the Zone 1 champion at 2 p.m. and Notre Dame will play NRHSAA champion A.N. Myer at 5 p.m.
