Phoenix rising in football
Two weeks into the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association senior football season, the Saint Francis Phoenix are making a case they can be contenders for a championship.
The Phoenix followed up a 38-0 road win at Blessed Trinity last week with a 32-0 dismantling of the visiting Denis Morris Reds Wednesday.
“We didn’t do very well last year and we are looking to beat Notre Dame this year and get to SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association playdowns) and play against Sir Winston or Myer,” said Saint Francis quarterback Cameron Mepham, who threw three touchdown passes Wednesday. “I think this team has the ability to put up a good fight against Myer this year but we have to take it one game at a time.
“We got stars and we have depth,” he said, mentioning, Trent Dobson, Elijah Jama, Aidan Johnston, Keishaun Johnston, Sadiekie Hayden and Gavin Paxton.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 also believes the team is more experienced this season.
“Last year was the first year a lot of the boys played and that was hard. Having that experience is a big thing and coaching is a big thing. It’s the same coaches but they have learned from us and other sources around the league.”
The 5-foot-10, 180 pounder started quarterbacking in Grade 9 as a backup on the senior team and then in Grade 10 he quarterbacked the Saint Francis junior team to the NCAA title. He was the senior starter last season.
“This spring I was in a football league and that gave me a lot of experience and knowledge of the game,” he said, “And my boys on the line have gotten way better than last year protecting me. I didn’t take a sack this whole game. A lot of time helps.”
Saint Francis head coach Joe Lentini is happy with his quarterback.
“He is a leader and he works well with everybody. He’s very supportive and he praises his players so they like him and listen to him. He knows all the plays, he executes and he is an all-around good player.”
This is Mepham’s last year of high school football and he wants to finish strong.
“It is going to look better for me in university if we do well this year. It shows that I can be a good leader and I can lead a team to good things and help it reach its potential.”
Lentini was pleased with his team’s performance Wednesday.
“The offence and defence did great and we represented our school very well. I like that they worked together as a team, they coordinated very well, they executed the plays and they were communicating on the field.”
He is looking forward to seeing how the season unfolds.
“We have some stud players and they’re leading the team and playing well together. Our practices have also improved from last year. They are hungry to do better than last year and they are more disciplined. We have some Grade 12s who are leading the way.”
However, he is not making any championship predictions.
“Our expectations are to have fun, do our best, become better football players and students and overall better persons.”
Denis Morris head coach Steve Roach knows his team has lots to work on but he is anything but discouraged.
“Physically we need to get stronger. I think we need to be a little tougher and work a little harder,” he said. “We’ve got the pieces here that we can do better than what we showed here today.”
The goal is to get better every week.
“That’s all you can do. Just take it one step at a time and fix the things that need fixing.”
The Reds struggled containing Saint Francis’ offence, especially one player.
“We definitely made some plays but it was tough to stop their No. 1 receiver (Trent Dobson). We tried to keep up with him but it was tough,” Roach said.
STATS PACK
Phoenix 32 Reds 0
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: St. Francis quarterback Cameron Mepham with three TD passes.
For the Saint Francis Phoenix: TD passes by Mepham to Trent Dobson (10 yards), Keishaun Johnston (42 yards) and Gavin Paxton (20 yards); six-yard TD run by Elijah Jama; 22-yard field goal by Paxton; sacks by Carter Dmytrow (2), Sadiekie Hayden, Michael Arewa, Dellon Duncan Jr. and Max Cataldo.
For the Denis Morris Reds: convert block by Travis Palmer.
Game stats: First downs: SF 12, DM 2. Net offence: SF 287, DM -23. Turnovers: SF 1, DM 1. Penalties: SF 15 for 110 yards, DM 7 for 50 yards.
