THUNDER BAY – Momentum is a strange mistress in sports.
As the second quarter wound down on Friday afternoon, it appeared it was going the way of the St. Patrick Saints (1-1), who had trailed the whole way, but were threatening deep in the red zone. The St. Ignatius Falcons defence had other ideas.
Twice they stopped Saints running back Kiran Mackenzie, from inside the five-yard-line, leaving the Falcons the ball on their own one.
One play later Tyler Robertson chugged his way into the St. Patrick end zone, his 109-yard run equalling the Superior Secondary School Athletic Association’s longest touchdown run, but more importantly he gave the Falcons a 17-6 edge headed to halftime.
“I was running and I was looking back a little bit. I was so tired by the end of it. It felt like I ran a mile,” said Robertson, who finished the day with more than 200 yards gained on the ground.
He admitted it wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for his teammates on the defensive side of the ball.
On the previous drive the Saints were denied a lengthy passing touchdown when a Falcons defender caught up with St. Patrick receiver Jayden Laybourne, hauling him down after a 77-yard gain within signt of the Falcons goal line.
That was the play that started it all, Robertson said.
“Nolan Height blazed down the field and tackled him at the five-yard-line. That was, in my opinion, the play of the game. That set us up for the big touchdown at the end of the half,” Robertson said.
The Falcons D came up big in the second half on more than one occasion, twice stopping promising St. Patrick drives deep in St. Ignatius territory.
After marching down to the Falcons two, St. Ignatius linebacker broke through the offensive line and sacked Saints quarterback Iene Auger on a third-and-goal play, forcing a turnover on downs.
“It was third down and if they got the touchdown they were back in front,” said Hathazi, who also booted a 17-yard field goal in the second that upped the Falcons lead to 10-3 at the time.
“Coach sent me on a blitz and I got in there and was in the quarterback’s face.”
Scoring was a scarcity in the second half, the lone score coming when Auger cut across the middle of the field on a quarterback keeper and raced down the right sideline 21 yards for the major, Konner Prevost’s extra point cutting the gap to four, midway through the third.
It would prove to be the last of the scoring, but not for lack of trying by the Saints, whose offensive game seemed to pick up steam as the game went on.
After the Falcons (1-1) turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth, the Saints were left with 96 seconds on the clock and 96 yards to go.
They managed to get 94 of them, but on the game’s final play, Auger got nine of the 11 he needed to secure a come-from-behind win, before being knocked out at the Falcons two.
"We just have to finish the short-yardage plays and capitalize on our opportunties," Auger said. "We just shake it off, get back to practice and work harder last week."
Jack Zhang had the other touchdown for St. Ignatius, a 22-yard run on the game’s opening drive.
Hammarskjold 35, Westgate 7: Quarterback Peter Burgess scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Vikings (2-0) to a second straight senior high school football triumph. Evan Basalyga had a 75-yard scoring run for the Tigers (0-2).
