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William MacDonough scores three times, Hammarskjold advances

The Gryphons outscored the Vikings 18-9 in the final 24 minutes and clawed within a touchdown, knowing the two teams faced a quarterfinal rematch. The Vikings, it turns out, had little to fear.
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Hammarskjold's Jordan MacIntosh tries to escape the clutches of Superior's Storm D'Amours Thursday at Fort William Stadium. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

The Gryphons outscored the Vikings 18-9 in the final 24 minutes and clawed within a touchdown, knowing the two teams faced a quarterfinal rematch.

The Vikings, it turns out, had little to fear.

William MacDonough led the way, torching the Superior Collegiate defence for 167 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, leading the Vikings to a convincing 29-0 junior football triumph.

“My game is basically just running fast on the outside, with my teammates blocking for me,” MacDonough said, after scoring from 43, 33 and 65 yards out, the latter major coming on Hammarskjold’s first possession of the second half.

Even Vikings coach Matt Steele seemed a little surprised at just how good a day his star running back enjoyed – or at least his final totals.

“Will had a great performance there today. It started from our offensive line out. We had great blocking for him. He’s a team guy. He’s been working hard all year, always has a smile on his face. He’s a great representative of our football team here at Hammarskjold.

MacDonough, the league’s leading rusher, scored twice a week ago, and said there was no chance they were going to let the winless Gryphons back into this contest.

“We are training our minds to never let a team come back in the game,” he said.

That’s precisely what Steele wanted to hear.

The difference between the two games was like night and day, he said.

“Last week Superior really gave it to us in the second half. They played a great half of football and we were really happy with what we saw out of their team this year,” Steele said.

“As a team I think they really developed their program and did really well. It was an open challenge to us to respond and show them how they can respond as a team.”

The first response came five minutes into the first, when Jared Lewkowski burst through the middle untouched for a 25-yard score.
Steven Burgess set up MacDonough’s first scoring run, picking off Gryphons quarterback Sean O’Connor in Superior territory in the final minute of the first at Fort William Stadium.

Devon Hoier connected on a 27-yard, second-quarter field goal to make it 16-0, with MacDonough scoring his second touchdown of the evening before the half to make it 22-0.

The Gryphons struggled moving the ball, but did come close to breaking the shutout in the fourth. O’Connor hooked up with Tom Colquhoun for a 37-yard strike, then scrambled for 17 to take the ball to the Vikings five.

But the Superior drive stalled when O’Connor’s next pass, a floater in the end zone, was snatched away by Hammarskjold’s Jordan McIntosh, who ran the ball beyond the goal line to preserve the shutout.

The loss ends Superior’s season while the Vikings will take on St. Patrick in next week’s semifinal.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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