THUNDER BAY – The St. Ignatius Falcons aren’t used to losing junior football games.
But the six-time defending champions were facing an unthinkable 0-2 start on Thursday when they took on the Westgate Tigers at Fort William Stadium.
It didn’t materialize.
The Falcons ran three scores in on the ground and played a solid defensive game from start to finish and knocked off the 0-2 Tigers 19-1 to even their record at 1-1.
Michael Sheare, who opened the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown scamper three minutes into the opening quarter, said it was a relief to get back into the win column.
“Everyone’s hyped. We’re going to go back to the room and be all excited there,” Sheare said, adding he and his teammates are definitely feeling the pressure to capture a seventh straight junior boys’ championship.
“Definitely, there’s lots of weight on our backs to in again.”
Falcons coach Martin Furtado, who took over the program last season, said it was a quick turnaround from summer to the start of the season, so he wasn’t reading too much into last week’s 18-6 loss to St. Patrick – on their home turf nonetheless.
“I think we have about nine days to prepare a team of juniors for a football game, and that’s a challenge at the best of times. We saw a lot of progress from last week. It was nice to come out with a good start today,” Furtado said.
“(Westgate) is a very good team. They came on strong in the second quarter. They had a drive right down into our zone and I think we were fortunate they didn’t score on that. We’re happy with our play today. They had a lot of fun.”
Sheare said he got plenty of help on his TD run.
“It was a run to the right side and it was great blocks by everyone, and a great block by Dylan DaRosa,” he said.
Four minutes after Sheare scored, Tyler Robertson made it 13-0 Falcons, plowing into the end zone from five yards out.
The first-half damage could have been worse.
Deep inside the red zone, the Tigers made a strong defensive stand, Dylan Dubray leaping in the air late in the second half to pick off a potential Kalvin Biniaris touchdown strike, running the ball back from the goal line to Westgate’s 12-yard line.
The Tigers lone score came on the team’s first drive of the second half, punter Logan Kelly booting the ball through the Falcons end zone from 30 yards out for the rouge.
St. Ignatius wrapped up the scoring 2:41 into the fourth, Da Rosa cutting right to take it home from the Tigers four-yard line, Sheare missing the extra point for a 19-1 Falcons lead.
St. Ignatius (1-1) takes on Hammarskjold (1-0) next Thursday, while Westgate (0-2) plays St. Patrick (1-0).
