Devyn Chenier missed a couple of practices this week, and coach Mike Doromko limited his touches on Friday.
The 16-year-old Sir Winston Churchill running back made the most of his opportunities at Fort William Stadium, crushing the St. Patrick Saints for 139 yards and two scores on just three carries as the Trojans (1-2) won for the first time in three outings, a 33-13 triumph.
Chenier gave all the credit to his offensive line.
“I had great blocking from my teammates and that’s what really got me down the field. I can really only thank them for that,” Chenier said.
His first score, a 59-yard bootleg down the right side of the field, evened the score 7-7, slightly more than a minute after St. Patrick’s Rob DeGagne ran it in from 16 yards out seven minutes into the second quarter.
“The first one I had a great block by my other wing back Cameron Claridge. He just pushed me to the outside and just gave me the daylight and I went,” Chenier said.
More important than his individual stats was the win. The Trojans weren’t interested in an 0-3 start, and pledged all week to end the slide before the season got away from them.
“After the first two losses, it feels great to get this win, especially with the point differential and how well we played in the second half. The first half was kind of slow and it didn’t look that much different than other games. But then we picked it up,” he said.
He hopes it’s the sign of good things to come, with Superior Collegiate on the slate next Friday.
“That second half really showed what we can do, even that second quarter. I think it’s going to be a great confidence booster in our games to come.”
The Trojans took a 9-7 lead into halftime on a safety, when Saints kicker Joel Kwazny chose to exit the back of the endzone rather than punt from the goal line.
St. Pat’s (1-2), losers of two straight now, jumped back out in front early in the third quarter when DeGagne hauled in a 72-yard pass from Jordan LeBlanc and raced down the field for the major.
But it was all the scoring the Saints could muster.
Churchill quarterback Jared White kept the drive alive with a couple of timely passes in Saints territory, then handed off to Alex Abbey, who eluded tackles up the middle and leapt into the end zone to make it 16-13 Trojans.
Chenier extended the lead with a 46-yard run. The Saints moved the ball well on their next possession, but as good as DeGagne was, he couldn’t hold onto the ball and Churchill turned the fumble into a 42-yard field goal off the foot of Eh Gae Moo.
The Saints would botch another handoff late in the quarter, stalling another drive after DeGagne made a 34-yard reception to move the ball into Trojans territory.
White wrapped up the scoring for Churchill, connecting on a five-yard score with time winding down.
“I’m very happy with my offensive line,” said Trojans coach Mike Doromko. “They blocked very well in week one, and now today I think it was our strongest point.”
DeGagne led the Saints with 55 rushing yards and 106 receiving yards on the day.
In other senior boys action:
Westgate 33, Superior Collegiate 12: Hunter Mina rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns, giving him eight in three games, to lead the unbeaten Tigers (3-0) to the easy win. Stewart Melenick had 126 yards and two majors.
St. Ignatius 23, Hammarskjold 0: Quarterback Adam Walser carried the ball nine times for 45 yard and a pair of touchdowns as St. Ignatius (1-2) captured its first win of the season, handing the Vikings (2-1) their first loss.
