Liam Fors knows how to score.
The St. Ignatius running back scored his sixth and seventh rushing touchdowns of the season, and added a 70-yard TD reception for good measure, leading the Falcons to a 32-8 win Thursday at Fort William Stadium over the Superior Collegiate Gryphons.
The win, combined with a 9-0 triumph by Westgate over St. Patrick, clinched second place in the junior high school football standings for the Falcons, who finished regular season play with a 4-1 record.
It wasn’t exactly how Fors and company planned to make a statement to the rest of the league, but he’ll take the result nonetheless.
“To be honest, it was a slow first half, kind of an ugly game, but we got the ‘W’, so we’re looking at second place right now.”
Fors, who had 81 yards on the ground, upping his season total to 324, and another 70 through the air, said he was just doing his job.
“I do what I can out there, trying to support my team, score touchdowns and get her done,” he said.
He got to work early.
After the Falcons took a 2-0 lead on a safety, Fors scorched the Superior defence with a 13-yard sweep down the left side, then kicked the extra point to make it 9-0.
“It was just a simple sweep. I got the ball, went around, and took it to the outside,” Fors said.
But what looked like a romp turned into a close battle, at least for a little while. St. Ignatius quarterback Justin Migliazza, trying to march the ball from the Superior 37-yard line, had his pass intercepted by the Gryphons Wyatt Maunula, who raced 78 yards down the sideline for the score, then completed the two-point conversion to Cole Briand to make it 9-8.
At least one Falcon tried to see the positive in the score, just the second touchdown mustered by a woeful Gryphons offense, which only scored 14 points in five outings, all losses.
“It was a great play by them,” said St. Ignatius coach Michael Savioli. “But having a bit of a close game here, I think it helps us and prepares us a little bit for the playoffs.”
It was all St. Ignatius after that.
Migliazza hooked up with Fors to put the Falcons up by eight, then Fors scored for the third time on a fake punt he took 50 yards to the end zone and St. Ignatius was up 23-8 at the half.
Kyle Hughes, who shared player of the game honours with Fors, notched the final touchdown of the day, grabbing a loose ball on a wayward halfback toss, and scampered 32 yards for the score. The Falcons netted a rouge on the ensuing kickoff and another on a point later in the third.
The Gryphons abandoned the ground game from there on in, and met with some success, showing they can move the ball at times through the air. But Troy Kundrat, who took over for a hobbled Maunula in the fourth, was picked off twice on successive possessions, first by Hughes and then it was Jake Puskas’s turn.
The Falcons take next week off, having earned one of two first-round byes. Their next game will be a semifinal match against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
The Gryphons, who finished in last place, will take on St. Patrick, a team they lost to 38-0 earlier this month.
In other action:
Westgate 9, St. Patrick 0: Dillan Tataryn hit Eric Mantyla for a nine-yard score and Josh Whitehurst punted a pair of rouges as the Tigers finished the regular season unbeaten at 5-0.
Churchill 18, Hammarskjold 3: Matthew Currie and Allan Chen scored second half rushing touchdowns as the Trojans secured fourth place heading into the postseason. The two teams will meet again in quarterfinal play next Thursday,.
