THUNDER BAY – All the St. Ignatius Falcons wanted was a chance at a sixth straight high school junior football championship.
They’ll get it.
Nick Doucet and Michael Sheare scored second-half rushing touchdowns on Sunday, leading the Falcons to a 15-0 win over the St. Patrick Saints in semifinal action at Fort William Stadium, landing them in the championship game for a sixth straight year.
“This is my first year on the team,” said Sheare, a change-of-pace back for a young Falcons team that has leaned heavily on Doucet most of the season.
“I just want to win it bad.”
Doucet says the team has been playing with a chip on its shoulder most of the season. Entering the campaign on a 31-game winning streak, they dropped a pair during the regular season, just six returnees back in the fold in 2017.
“When we lost our first game against Hamm at the start of the season we were all down about it. But we knew we could get it back and we could win the championship this year,” Doucet said.
They’ll go in as underdogs against a Vikings team that rolled through the regular season at 4-0, though the Falcons have only given up 22 points all year long.
Doucet’s OK with that role.
“At the start of the year, nobody knew how to play. We were all new. We had no clue what we were doing. The first game we were all too confident, but we’re a good team now.”
First-year coach Martin Furtado agreed.
“We’re very happy with the development of the team. It’s a very committed group and a special group and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do in this next game,” Furtado said.
It was a defensive slog most of the contest, the only point in the first-half coming on a Sheara punt that rolled out of the end zone for a rouge.
The 1-0 Falcons lead stood up until Sheara found an opening and scooted 23 yards down the left sideline for the game’s first major and an 8-0 St. Ignatius lead, three minutes into the third.
“The coach came up to me and said we’re going to try something new. I saw the hole wasn’t covered and I ran to the other side. It was good blocking from the offensive line too,” Sheara said.
Doucet’s score came 2:04 into the fourth, finding a seam in traffic for a two-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach.
The Saints subsequently marched to the St. Ignatius 13, but quarterback Collin Wiseman’s third-down pass was picked off by Cameron Hughes to dispel the threat, the closest St. Patrick came to scoring all day long.
The final goes Saturday at 1 p.m. at Fort William Stadium.
