Marauders top Gryphons to finish undfeated
Dante D’Amario spent most of the second half of Tuesday’s battle between the A.N. Myer Marauders and Greater Fort Erie Secondary School Gryphons on the sidelines getting treatment on a minor ankle injury and resting.
No matter, the 18-year-old, 12B student more than earned the downtime after catching three touchdown passes to lead the Marauders to a 40-7 triumph in a Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 1 senior boys football game at Myer.
D’Amario caught his first touchdown pass late in the first half before quickly adding two more majors on passes early in the second half from backup quarterback Noah Walters before calling it a day.
D’Amario admitted the hat trick was on his mind.
“Oh ya, of course! Always try and get more,” he smiled. “It felt great. At the half, our offence was a little slow so it felt good to get them back in the game.”
D’Amario was able to show off his speed and agility on a couple of the catches.
“Runs after catches are even more important than catching the ball,” he said. “You want to catch the ball, but even getting the first down, that’s what you want to do.”
Myer coach Dave Buchanan has a soft spot in his heart for D’Amario, who gave the sport a shot at the urging of Buchanan, who noticed his athleticism in gym class in Grade 11.
“At first, he was a little bit passive but what’s he’s done is play football and rugby and really toughened up and he’s really turned into an excellent football player, a player that could probably play at another level,” Buchanan said.
“I was happy he came back for his 12B year because he gives us effort, he gives us passion and it never stops for him. He’s 100 miles-per-hour for him and that hopefully rubs off on the other guys.”
D’Amario will likely be hanging up his cleats after this year.
“It’s really fun and I’m going to miss this a lot,” said D’Amario, who plans to study HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) at Mohawk College.
He would love nothing more than going out on top.
“It feels good (5-0 regular season) but that was our goal at the start though. We’re looking forward to the playoffs back home,” he said. “We’re going win it all.”
The Marauders advance to the playoffs next week versus the loser of Friday’s Sir Winston Churchill/Centennial game.
“The 5-0, that’s the goal, but really the goal is where we’re going to be at the end of the year. The playoffs are the focus,” Buchanan said.
The veteran coach feels there is plenty of room to improve.
“If people are watching our game today — and the players know this — we’re just a little bit sloppy,” he said. “We’re just not quite there yet. Sometimes that is not a terrible thing because now you have something to work on. You don’t want to peak too early and we’re definitely not peaking.
“We’re better than we’re showing right now.”
Fort Erie coach Dave Sauer had no qualms about the effort considering he was missing four starters on offence, including his quarterback, No. 1 running back and tight end.
“Going in we were banged up. It was very tough sledding today so we asked our guys to step up and do what they could. The defence played great. Myer is a top provincial team so there is no shame in how we played today,” he said.
The Gryphons will square off versus the winner of the Bulldogs/Cougars game next Wednesday.
STATS PACK
Marauders 40 Gryphons 7
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Myer’s Dante D’Amario with three touchdown receptions.
A.N. Myer Marauders: D’Amario 3 TDs; Thomas Somerville TD, 1 TD pass; Evan Goforth TD; Noah Walters 2 TD passes; Lucca D’Addio 15-yard field goal, five converts; One conceded safety.
Greater Fort Erie Gryphons: Chad Phillips TD; Bo Train convert.
Up next: The Marauders advance to the playoffs next week versus the loser of Friday’s Sir Winston Churchill/Centennial game. The Gryphons will square off versus the winner of the Bulldogs/Cougars game. Both will be played Wednesday, Oct. 25.
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