THUNDER BAY – It’s been 11 years since the Westgate Tigers last captured a junior football crown.
They’ll have a chance to end that streak a week from Saturday.
The Tigers broke open a 14-14 semifinal contest against the Hammarskjold Vikings, scoring a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to earn a champion ship berth with a 28-14 triumph at Fort William Stadium.
Receiver Tyler Rose snagged a 56-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell Papineau, just shy of the midway point of the second, that cut a seven-point deficit to one and ran another one in from just outside the Vikings goal line for what proved to be the game-winning score with 4:07 left in regulation to land the Tiger in the junior final against the top-ranked and undefeated St. Ignatius Falcons.
Getting there is half the battle, said Rose, who added a third touchdown, another one-yard effort, in the final minute of regulation.
“It’s been a tough season, but we’ve played really well. This game we knew we had to do it and we did it, so we won.”
Finding themselves down 7-0 after the Vikings marched the ball down the field 78 yards on their first possession, capped by a six-yard touchdown run by Gerald Marshall, the Tigers didn’t think twice about the deficit.
“This was not the first time that’s happened,” said Rose, who finished with 44 yards on the ground and 109 yards on three receptions.
“We knew we just had to pull our hearts together, get back into the game and just play our best.”
Rose said the 56-yarder wasn’t anything all that special, just a good all-around effort by everyone on the field.
“I just ran as fast as I could. I trusted Mitchell to pass me the ball and he did,” Rose said.
The Vikings, whose only win of 2022 came against St. Patrick, gave the Tigers a fight for much of the contest.
They led 7-0 after one and battled back to tie the game 14-14 in the fourth, thanks to a botched snap deep in Westgate territory that bounced into the Tigers end zone, Reme Masik pouncing on the ball as it rolled around.
Papineau, who rushed for 122 yards on 12 carries, scoring what was then the go-ahead touchdown in the second on a 12-yard run, was the driving force on what proved to be the winning touchdown drive, hitting Rose for receptions of 16 and 53 yards that delivered the ball from midfield to the Hammarskjold two-yard line.
He’d finish with 160 yards through the air and handed the ball off to Rose, who took it wide left for the decisive touchdown run.
“I think we played calm and composed, even when we got down. When it got tied up late in the game, we had a good drive and scored. So I think we played pretty good for the whole game.”
Papineau was extremely impressed with the effort of his wide receiver Rose.
“He’s extremely fast and he can catch the ball. I like throwing to him. He’s a heck of an athlete,” said Papineau, acknowledging the job is only half done.
“We’re just going to go out and play our game (against St. Ignatius).”
The championship is scheduled for next Saturday at Fort William Stadium.
