Saints marching to brighter future
Back-to-back losses to open the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association senior football season have done little to dampen the enthusiasm of the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints.
“The mood around Collegiate football is all about teamwork,” said Collegiate quarterback Cole Adshead Wednesday, following a 35-0 loss to the visiting Eden Flyers (1-1). “We have a good team out here and we just need to get our reps in. I think we can make it a lot better than it is right now because we have a lot of of potential.”
Adshead is in Grade 12 and has been playing football at Collegiate since Grade 9.
“I have learned everything from these wonderful coaches, coach (Nathan) Greene, coach (Dan) Pepe and coach (Lori) White,” he said. “They are great coaches.”
Football has been a big part of Adshead’s high school experience.
“To me, football is one of the most important things in high school and I will probably be coming back next year just to play football,” he said. “The energy of this team is just amazing when we get on the field. It is an uplifting feeling and you feel like part of a family. Saints football is a family.”
The one-year COVID-caused break from football was tough on Adshead.
“I was so upset about not being able to play my Grade 11 year.”
Collegiate has emerged from the one-year absence in a good state of being.
“We are clearly in a rebuilding mode,” Greene said. “We have a ton of first-year players that are getting on the field and getting game experience every game. We are really happy about that and every down they have is going to be an experience that they have three years from now.
“That is going to be our recipe for success in the future.”
The roster of 42 athletes is an even split of junior and senior-aged players but many of the senior-aged players are in their first year of football.
“Giving them experience against comparable opponents is tough in the varsity league but we find ways. Sometimes we are going to have one-sided scores and they will be in tough to match up against their opponents,” Greene said. “They might not match up speed-wise but physically they all can protect themselves and I am happy they are committed to getting better.”
Greene is thrilled by how many players there are on the Collegiate roster.
“We have a plan to grow that in the future and we are going to leverage these young guys. They come to practice every day, they are going to get game reps and they are going to be better football players next week and every subsequent week and for years to come.”
STATS PACK
Flyers 35 Saints 0
BPSN Player of the Game: Eden’s Sam Miele with a three-yard TD run and a 14-yard TD pass to Wesley Wiens.
For the Eden Flyers: Miele and Wiens, TDs; Elijah Prosper, 20-yard TD run; Ian Maskaluk, 22-yard TD run; Justin Gilks, two fumble recoveries; Wilem Brown, interception; Nik Bluzmans, sack.
For the St. Catharines Collegiate Saints: Cam Scott, 3-7 passing for 32 yards and seven carries for 32 yards; Skylar Thompson, three carries for 30 yards and a 12-yard reception; Riley Willis, two receptions for 14 yards; Gage Davidson, eight-yard reception; Ombi Kinga played terrific on the defensive line; and, Jacob Gough had his second interception in his second game of football.
Up next: Thursday games are Simcoe (1-0) at Grimsby (0-1) at 3 p.m.; Churchill (1-0) at Greater Fort Erie (0-1) at 3 p.m.; and, A.N. Myer (1-0) at Westlane (1-0) at 7 p.m.
