THUNDER BAY -- The Churchill Trojans survived opening week of the high school football season, despite tossing up five interceptions to the Westgate Tigers.
They can thank all-purpose back Braeden Prochnicki.
Prochnicki returned a kickoff for 91 yards to the end zone in the third quarter and then scampered untouched up the middle for 55 yards and another major with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, leading the 2015 finalist Trojans to a 37-26 Fort William Stadium win.
It helped the Trojans, likely in their final season of Superior Secondary School Athletic Association play with Churchill slated for possible closure after the school year, overcome a brilliant game by Tigers running back Darian Fuchs.
The 17-year-old Fuchs rushed for 141 yards and four touchdowns on the day, helping the Tigers eat through most of a 22-point halftime deficit to close within three as time wound down in the final quarter.
An exhausted Prochnicki wasn’t taking any of the credit for the win.
“It was a great game. Both teams played hard. It wasn’t a blowout. I’m not going to stand this on myself. Nothing would have happened if it wasn’t for my O-line and D-line and them making plays,” he said.
Getting Prochnicki involved in the offence was definitely the Trojans game plan, said offensive co-ordinator Will Crocker, filling in for coach Mike Doromko, suspended for the season opener.
“Braeden’s a pretty dynamic player. Obviously we try to get the ball to him as much as we can. We try to move him around and try to get other guys involved as well, but he played great today and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come this season.”
Quarterback Dylan Ford’s day started out well, when he connected with Connor Byerley for a 25-yard score with a minute to go in the first.
Switching things up under centre, the Trojans Andrew Freitag stepped in and hit James Basabyga for a74-yard scoring strike in the second quarter, Churchill adding a rouge to take a 15-0 lead, which they’d stretch to 22-0 by the half on an 85-yard scoring run. He’d finish with 188 yards on the ground, tops on either team.
The momentum began to change early in the third when Fuchs picked off Freitag, the Tigers taking over on the Churchill 21. Fuchs took it in from 10 yards out on the pitch.
Trailing 29-7, the Trojans rolled off three straight touchdowns to close the gap to three, Fuchs barreling in from two yards out to start the ball rolling.
The Tigers recovered an onside kick and Fuchs took it in from a yard out, a scoring play set up by a 35-yard passing play from John Czupryna to Eric Rabachuk.
Brett Davidson snagged a Ford pass on Churchill’s next possession, handing the ball back to the Westgate offence and once again it was Fuchs, this time from five yards out, after recovering a Czupryna fumble deep in Trojans territory.
It was as close as the Tigers would get.
“I thought we had a chance. We battled back. We didn’t have a very good first half,” Fuchs said, crediting their later success on adjustments to the offensive line. “But in the second half everything started to click and we started getting back into the game.”
Churchill takes on Hammarskjold next Friday, while the Tigers get the defending champion St. Ignatius Falcons.
