Raider recruit sparks Phoenix
Tinashe Dandato made a great debut for the St. Francis Phoenix senior football team Friday.
Forced to join his former rivals when the Holy Cross football program folded, the 17-year-old made his presence known immediately scoring three touchdowns to lead the Phoenix (1-0) to a 28-0 road victory over the Lakeshore Catholic Gators (0-2) in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play.
Not having a football program at Holy Cross was tough on Dandato.
“It’s never easy, but you just have to get through it,” he said.
But the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder was greeted with open arms by his new teammates.
“I felt at home at the first practice,” the Grade 12 student said. “These guys were so welcoming I just had to do it.”
He did admit wearing St. Francis colours felt a little odd Friday.
“It’s a transition,” he said, with a smile. “That’s all I am going to say. I am missing my own colours, but these are quite good.”
St. Francis head coach Jim Whittard was familiar with Dandato even before he arrived at St. Francis to play football.
“He’s a great kid and him and I have been involved with some projects between our two schools already. I already know he’s a class act, a respectful young man and a great leader,” he said. “The athleticism is a bonus and I couldn’t ask for a tougher runner.”
That toughness is evident by the sound made when Dandato runs into opposing players.
“Underneath the equipment he is a really nice guy, but when he’s running the ball, the train is coming,” Whittard said, with a laugh.
Dandato enjoys the physical component of being a running back,
“If you’re not hitting them, you are not doing it right,” he said. “You have to put a shoulder down and keep running and moving your legs.”
Dandato is hoping his hard work will lead to some interest from university scouts who have yet to discover him. He knows he still had work to do.
“I want to work on my indies (individual skills) and get a little faster so I can get off the line really fast.”
Dandato and the Phoenix looked sharp Friday considering they had their bye week during the first week of the season.
“I expected this because of the amount of work we put in at practice,” Dandato said.
Whittard agreed with that sentiment.
“It’s an old saying that you play how you practise, but we are on them every single day on the little details and expecting excellence in practice,” Whittard said.
He got exactly what he wanted in his first game as St. Francis head coach.
“I asked the guys to come out focused and intense and they did that,” Whittard said. “They showed great discipline which is a big piece of the puzzle.”
St. Francis scored on its first three possessions of the game, but Lakeshore head coach Bernie Tessier didn’t blame it on a slow start by his team. He went back to early in the week to explain his team’s early struggles.
“It was 22-0 on Monday,” he said. “This was a combination of a really challenging week for us in practice with personnel, we have some guys out with injuries and suspensions and we had a lot of absences from practice.
“We had a lot Grade 9s and 10s playing and new guys at new positions and we coached them up the best we could.”
Tessier promises more of the same if things don’t improve.
“We are committed as coaches to working with the players who are here every night and for those who make a commitment to our team and to each other.
“We are going to keep supporting them.”
STATS PACK
Phoenix 28 Gators 0
Johnny Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s Player of the Game: St. Francis’s Tinashe Dandato with 108 yards rushing and three TDs.
For the St. Francis Phoenix: Dandato, TD runs of one, one and four yards; Quinton Duemo, six-yard TD run; two-point convert on run by Lucas Baiocco; Marko Al-Kayed, punt block and sack; Igor M’Baya, interception; Zack Everard, sack.
Lakeshore Catholic Gators: Jacob Dykstra and Michel Krish-Marc, fumble recoveries; Andre Lafleur, sack and punt block.
Game stats: First downs: SF 10, LC 3. Net offence: SF 217 yards, LC 13 yards. Turnovers: SF 1, LC 4. Penalties: SF 7 for 15 yards, LC 9 for 25 yards.
