Westlane, West Niagara advance to Tier 2 semifinals
The visiting Westlane Spartans advanced to the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 2 senior football semifinals with a seesaw 41-20 victory Friday afternoon over the Eden Flyers.
Westlane led 28-0 early in the second quarter before Eden rallied from a 28-8 halftime deficit to trail 28-20 heading into the final quarter.
“The game was a tale of two teams,” Westlane head coach Dean Mazzone said. “We were a mistake-free team at the beginning of the game and a mistake-full team in the second half of the game.”
Mazzone has a simple explanation for the disparity.
“I think the guys got complacent. We have not been in a position like this before this season and they got really happy and forgot to do their jobs,” he said. “But the defence rose to the occasion and the kids played hard.”
The Spartans move on to play undefeated Governor Simcoe in the semifinals next Thursday at 1 p.m.
It was nice for Westlane to get a game in after a lengthy absence.
“At the very beginning it was hard but as the game got closer it was much easier. We had a real good week of practice this week and attendance was almost perfect,” Mazzone said.
Eden head coach Bob Krzeczkowski attributed his squad’s slow start to jitters.
“I think the kids were a bit nervous in the playoffs and we started slow but then we found a rhythm midway through and made it a pretty good game.”
The Flyers went into the game banged up.
“We had a few guys out and that hurt us but the coaches really coached the kids up for this week. They did a fabulous job.”
Krzeczkowski saw a lot of good things happen this season with the Eden football program.
“We have come a long way and I think we have taken some really good steps to build a team that can be a contender year after year,” he said. “We lose some key guys but we still have a really good core coming back.
STATS PACK
Flyers 41 Spartans 20
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Westlane’s Cam Parlee with four interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and three tackles
For the Westlane Spartans: Parlee, see above; Logan Carruthers, 10-yard TD run; Jacob Ranger, one 60-yard rushing TD, 178 yards rushing and seven solo tackles; Ryan Dionne, TD runs of five and 25 yards, two two-point converts and 79 yards rushing; Logan Kapitanchuk, 40-yard rushing TD; Ethan Callender, 23-yard TD catch and four tackles; Jack Slade, three tackles; Spencer Kennedy, two tackles.
For the Eden Flyers: TD catches of 80, 60 and 30 yards by Brody Payne from Ben Enns.
WOLFPACK 49 HORNETS 0
The West Niagara Wolfpack advanced to the Tier 2 semifinals with a 49-0 road victory over the Stamford Hornets Friday afternoon in Niagara Falls.
“It was good to finally play after a 22-day break. We knocked the rust off but lots of work to do preparing for the semis next week. Once again we got everyone in for extended playing time and escaped without injury,” West Niagara head coach Zack Silverthorne said. “A shout out to coach (Brad) Martin and his endless commitment to high school football at Stamford. If that was his last game coached, the league is losing a good one. Much respect.”
Scoring two rushing majors for the Wolfpack were Alex Suntz, Xavier Zatylny and Tanner Mantini. Kieran McDonald caught a 17-yard TD pass from Zatylny and McDonald and Levi VanRyn recovered fumbles.
West Niagara will play at Thorold next Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
