THUNDER BAY -- When the high school senior football season started, Cayden Boucher was almost an afterthought in Mike McNally’s offence.
But with star running back Darien Fuchs down and out for the season, unless the Westgate Tigers manage to win their way into the championship final, Boucher has risen to the occasion to provide his team yet another weapon out of the backfield.
Boucher rushed for 142 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Friday to lead the Tigers (2-3) to a 25-7 triumph over their south-side rival St. Patrick Saints.
McNally couldn’t be more pleased with his effort.
“He came out of nowhere and played like a superstar,” the veteran coach said after the win, which entrenched the Tigers in third place and closer to their goal of a rematch against the Churchill Trojans, who needed a lbate rally to secure a win over Westgate earlier this season.
Boucher opened the scoring with a 23-yard run up the middle eight minutes into the contest, then with the Tigers up 10-0 thanks to a Cameron Maki field goal, he ran one in from 10 yards out to give the Tigers a 17-0 lead at the half.
“Our o-line was doing an awesome job today. They opened up those holes and you could just shoot through the line. It was a big gap and it was easy to run right to the end zone,” Boucher said.
The Saints (1-3) had trouble getting their ground game going, abandoning the pass in the opening half. But quarterback Eric Nisioiu got the ball rolling in the third, tucking and running for a 51-yard scamper that set up a 25-yard scoring strike to Cody Baraniuk, the Saints pulling to within 10.
But the Tigers weren’t done yet.
Quarterback John Czupryna connected with receiver Anthony Ciafangna on passes of 40 and 31 yards that brought the ball deep into St. Patrick territory, then kept the drive alive on a bad punt snap, running for 18 yards and a first down.
Hunter MacKenzie finished off the drive with a two-yard plunge into the end zone for a 24-7 lead.
“To come out tonight and play a game from the first play all the way to the end, that’s big for us,” McNally said.
“Our big thing now is to try to stay healthy. We’re pretty thin in numbers. Playoffs have been our focus all season. We knew this was a huge one.”
