THUNDER BAY -- On paper, it looked like the marquee match of the junior high school football season.
The four-time defending champion St. Ignatius Falcons and last year’s finalist Hammarskjold Vikings entered play on Thursday boasting 2-0 records, allowing but a single touchdown between them all season long.
Reality has a funny habit of stepping in the way.
The Vikings were nothing more than the latest gridiron victim laid to waste by the Falcons juggernaut, despite scoring the game’s first touchdown and handing St. Ignatius its first deficit of 2016.
The Falcons (3-0) fumbled the opening kickoff leading to a 27-yard scoring strike from Hammarskjold quarterback Gavin Perkins to receiver Rodney Wigwas, then scored on seven of their next eight possessions and rolled to a 42-7 win at Fort William Stadium.
Alex Gingras and Jordan Maki shone offensively for St. Ignatius, Gingras evening the score with a 90-yard touchdown run on the Falcons next possession after the Vikings score, while Maki was 3-for-5 throwing for 151 yards and three scores.
Two of the tosses went to Trent Savard, including a 72-yard strike late in the second quarter that upped the Falcons lead to 35-7 at the time. The third was a 56-yard toss to Jakob Anton.
“I thought it was going to be a very close game,” said the diminutive Gingras, who attends La Verenderye, a school without a football program.
“I think it was the matter of the blocking. Our O-line did an amazing job which allowed us to make some runs and make some passes.”
Gingras stormed the Vikings for 180 yards and two scores on the evening, the second a 55-yeard scamper down the sidelines 2:29 into the second quarter.
He said they tried to put the opening kickoff behind them in a hurry and not dwell on the fact Hammarskjold (2-1) became the first team to crack the Falcons goose egg this season.
“That’s the motto of our team. If we fall down, we get right back up,” Gingras said.
Maki, who also booted a 30-yard field goal, wasn’t expecting a blowout and praised his team's defence for keeping the offence on the field for most of the contest.
“I’ve also got to thank the receivers and the O-line. Everybody did well. It was just an awesome game,” Maki said.
It was the 20th straight regular-season win for the Falcons, who haven’t dropped a decision since the 2011 semifinal against the St. Patrick Saints. With playoffs included, St. Ignatius is 28-0 in its last 28 outings.
St. Ignatius scored just once in the second half, Anthony Gojsic barreling in from a yard out after Dawson De Sousa intercepted a Perkins pass and ran the ball back 32 yards into scoring territory.
