NCAA football: Reds, Irish and Thunder win
It was bedlam on the field Thursday afternoon at Saint Paul as the Denis Morris Reds celebrated their first victory of the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association senior football season.
Folllowing a 7-6 victory over the Saint Paul Patriots, the Reds posed for photos and unsuccessfully chased down one of their assistant coaches to give him a Gatorade bucket shower.
‘It’s awesome, especially in a game like that where it came down to the wire,” DM head coach Antony Volante said.
The Reds were able to hang on to the win when a last-second Saint Paul 30-yard field goal attempt missed and Denis Morris was able to run the ball out of the end zone.
“It was a nail-biter and the guys gave it everything they had,” Volante said. “Everyone on the bench and on the field was into it and I am happy for the kids to see this.”
The Reds seem to be getting better each week.
“They have had a couple of tough games and they were hungry and they wanted it,” he said. “They deserve it and they work hard.”
The game-winning TD in the fourth quarter was set up by a 67-yard pass reception by Liam Ashey from Josh Barber to the Saint Paul one-yard line.
“We drew that play up on the sideline and he’s a smart kid and a good athlete,” Volante said. “He was exhausted because he did everything he could and I am happy that it turned out for him.”
It was a catch to remember for the 16-year-old wide receiver and cornerback.
“As I was running down the field with the ball, things were going through my mind and I was thinking ‘Just go’,” the 5-foot-11 150-pounder said.” I got down on the one-yard line and that didn’t feel too good, but we got the touchdown and we got the win.
“That feels good.”
Ashey believes his team is on the upswing.
“It feels great to win, especially against a great team like Saint Paul,” he said. “We are going to practice more, get better, work harder and hopefully come up with a couple of more wins.”
Saint Paul coach Mark Antonelli wasn’t shocked by the outcome of Thursday’s game.
“This is what happens when kids don’t come to practice and it’s interesting that every team is in that boat,” he said. “It’s not just us and we played a team that was in the same boat. There’s turnovers and penalties and it was really a poorly executed game on both ends.”
Antonelli sees the problem as widespread.
“I think there is a commitment crisis across all of Niagara in terms of kids not wanting to show up,” he said. “We had to play kids today who didn’t come to practice all week and they kind of held us hostage because we didn’t have enough (other) players to field a regular team.”
Antonelli thought some of his players did play well Thursday.
“Some of those kids left it all on the line, but the problem is when we don’t have kids here, it hurts.”
He credited the Reds for pulling out the victory.
“Hats off to DM,” he said. “They had a tough go the first couple of games and they came in here and executed better than us.
“They made some nice plays, they played well defensively and they looked like a football team today.”
STATS PACK
Reds 7 Gators 6
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: DM’s Liam Ashey with a 67-yard pass reception from Josh Barber to set up DM’s winning TD, and a late-game fumble recovery.
For the Denis Morris Reds: Ashey, 67-yard catch and fumble recovery; one-yard TD run by Christian Bradley and an interception; Tyrone Wray, interception.
For the Saint Paul Patriots: Nick Abbruscato, 25-yard field goal and single point; safety given up by DM’s offence; Jon Gill, blocked punt; Ethan Watson, two fumble recoveries.
IRISH 7 MUSTANGS 0
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team improved to 3-0 in NCAA play Wednesday with a 7-0 road victory over the Saint Michael Mustangs (2-1).
“The game was called with 10:22 left in the second quarter. We were up 7-0 at the time and given the win,” Notre Dame head coach Tim Bisci said. “(The) field was deemed unplayable. Player safety was the deciding factor in the decision.”
Jacob Succar scored the lone TD in the game on a 36-yard run.
THUNDER 31 PHOENIX 13
The Blessed Trinity Thunder improved to 2-1 in NCAA senior football play with a 31-13 road victory over the St. Francis Phoenix (1-1).
“The team played well overall despite too many mental errors and penalties,” said BT coach Sean Jones, who was coaching against St. Francis for the first time since leaving the school this year after more than a decade of coaching football at the St. Catharines high school.
“We had some growth and maturity in some key parts of our game and the focus will remain on trying to get better each week, at every position.”
Contributing to the win for the Phoenix, who led 24-6 at the half, were: Max Mosquite, Luke Lemessurier, Gavan Banga and Isaac MacAlonan with touchdowns; Hunter Oakley, 30-yard field goal and four converts; Nathan Biggs, two forced fumbles; Bryson Buckborough and Vince Fracchioni, fumble recoveries; and, Rob Shuert, sack.
“Huge kudos to our offensive line who were a massive presence in the game,” St. Francis coach Jim Whittard said, of his squad’s performance.
The Phoenix were hurt by three fumbles, including one in the endzone on a kick that resulted in a BT major.
“Blessed Trinity executed well and I was happy with my team’s execution at times, but a lack of execution at other times created issues for us,” Whittard said.
Contributing for St. Francis were: Ethan Reid with a 50-yard passing TD to Zach Everard; John Serrano with a rushing major; and, kicker Lucas Baiocco with a touchdown-saving tackle.
