NCAA football roundup: BT, Irish, St. Mike’s, Phoenix winners
The Blessed Trinity Thunder senior football team improved to 3-0 in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play with a 35-14 victory over the Denis Morris Reds (1-2) at Kiwanis Field.
The Thunder led 23-14 at halftime.
“We had another challenging start with bus problems and intense heat for October, but our players performed well overall,” BT head coach Sean Jones said. “They overcame a few mistakes to put forth a solid effort. Hats off to Denis Morris for playing a tough physical game.”
Contributing to the win for Blessed Trinity were: Jayden Gurzi-MacDonald with two rushing TDs; Mikhael Pegg with a 90-yard kick return TD; Ryan Broome with a rushing major; Johnny Breen with a scoring pass to Will McDevitt; Ethan Rakonjac with five converts; and, Aiden Sartor and Corbin Wong with interceptions.
For Denis Morris, touchdown grabs were made by Sammy Kramar and Luca Marcone from Lincoln Marsh-Hall.
“The defence did a good job in limiting big plays, but on offence we struggled running the ball and had to rely too much on the pass,” Denis Morris head coach Steve Roach said. “Blessed Trinity has a good team and I’m happy with how Denis Morris weathered the storm. We didn’t stop fighting and got a couple of scores as a result. Our quarterback, Lincoln Marsh-Hall, is really progressing well.”
PHOENIX 36 RAIDERS 0
Saint Francis pushed its NCAA record to 2-1 with a 36-0 victory over the Holly Cross Raiders (0-3).
Helping the Phoenix record the win were: Cameron Mepham with TD passes to Aidan Johnson, Trent Dobson and Lucas Mason; Sadiekie Hayden had a rushing major; Jhovanny Orellana recorded a pick 6; Gavin Paxton booted two converts and a rouge; Carter Dymtrow and Max Cataldo had sacks; and, Liam Zadorozny blocked a punt.
“We had strong play on both sides of the line which kept the Raider offence on their heels the whole game,” Saint Francis coach Mark Johnson said. “Offensively, we did a better job in executing the running game and spread the ball around to six or seven different receivers. Looking forward to seeing how we stack up with Saint Michael’s next week.”
FIGHTING IRISH 42 GATORS 8
The defending NCAA champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish improved to 3-0 with a 42-8 victory over the Lakeshore Catholic Gators (0-3).
“We had some real good moments today but there is definite room for improvement. We need to be better at understanding our blocking assignments when we run the ball and our run fits need to be better defensively,” Irish head coach Tim Bisci said. “I like where we are, but we need to improve as the competition continues to get better in the league.”
Leading the way for Notre Dame were: Jordan Huggins who caught a 25-yard TD pass from Ben Tsanoff; Justin Savoie who had TD runs of one and five years and gained 112 yards on the ground; Brodie Bevacqua who caught a 13-yard TD from Tsanoff and booted six converts; Colten Kizlyk who had two interceptions, including a 30-yard pick 6; Wyatt Brown who caught a 22-yard TD pass from Tsanoff; and, Tsanoff who had 192 yards passing.
Lakeshore’s touchdown was scored by Ivan Antonucci followed by a two-point convert from Nick Jubinville.
“We had big plays in the run game led by Gaven Clark and Darren Williams on the O line and great running by Nick Jubenvile and Devon Dulmage,” Lakeshore offensive coordinator Jordan Marra said.
MUSTANGS 23 PATRIOTS 13
Lukas Cuthbert had two rushing majors to power the Saint Michael Mustangs (2-1) to a 23-13 victory over the Saint Paul Patriots.
Also contributing to the win for the Mustangs were: Jake Salvatore with a TD catch from Austin Macrae; Max Marinas with a 20-yard field goal, a single and a convert; Connor Cavey with three sacks; and, Matthew Lim with two incredible catches to keep offensive drives alive.
For Saint Paul, Adam McBride scored on a two-yard run and Matt Murray connected on a 45-yard TD pass to John Campbell.
“I felt that our team played very well against a physical, well coached and skilled football team,” Saint Paul head coach Rick Oreskovich. “Saint Paul Players gave a 100 per cent and our coaching staff is very proud of their fight and never give up attitude right to the end of the game. We have a short week and again we will be tested physically against Blessed Trinity next Friday.”
