The Saint Patrick Saints relish the underdog role.
Much like the Westgate Tigers of a year ago, Saints coach Mike Marcon said he convinced his team not to look too far ahead, to make the playoffs and let destiny take over from there.
On Friday at Fort William Stadium the Saints took the first step, blanking the Superior Collegiate Gryphons 37-0, guaranteeing they’ll be one of four teams left standing when the regular season ends in a couple of weeks.
“This was a very important win for us,” said Marcon, whose team was buoyed by a pair of Mike Mulawyshyn scores.
“We’re getting better every game. We started very slow. The last four years we finished in first place. We’d rather come into the playoffs in fourth place this year. Instead of starting first place, we’d rather end first place.”
Taking a 3-0 lead into the second quarter, the game had all the markings of being a tight one. Those thoughts lasted about 51 seconds, when QB Jordan LeBlanc connected with Rob Degagne on a 57-yard scoring play.
The pass caught the Gryphons (1-4) overmatched defence by surprise, exactly what Marcon was counting on.
“It only works if you call it once or twice a game,” he said.
Superior went three and out and the Saints took appeared to do the same, but a quick thinking Mac Pytyck punted the ball deep, then raced down the field and recovered it, a little-known rule in Canadian football that says the punter and anyone who lines up behind him is eligible to claim the loose ball as their own.
The ploy worked to perfection. After Marcus Hardy took the ball 24 yards on two carries to the Superior goal-line, Mulawyshyn barrelled through the Gryphon defenders for the one-yard score.
Superior turned the ball over on downs on their own 25 on their next possession, leading to a nine-yard scoring run by Holden Mascarin, putting the Saints up 23-0 at the half.
Mulawyshyn, who had 48 yards on seven carries, dove backwards into the end zone midway through the third quarter to extend the lead to 30-0 and Aaron Pecchia finished things off in the fourth, waltzing in for the game’s final touchdown four minutes into the final stanza.
Aaron Reynolds had 34 yards on a dozen carries to lead the Grpyphons offensively, while Josh Lamke made nine tackles and deflected a pass on defence.
Elsewhere in senior boys play:
Wesgate 27, St. Ignatius 0: Stewart Melenick scored from 11, 19 and six yards out, and Hunter Mina ran one in from the one-yard line as the Tigers (5-0) stretched their winning streak to five games.
Churchill 31, Hammarskjold 23: Cameron Claridge made a 40-yard dash for a major with slightly more than a minute to play to give the Trojans (3-2) the win in what proved to be a see-saw battle. Claridge finished with 103 yards and two scores for Churchill. Hammarskjold’s Alex Nemmec-Bakk tossed three touchdowns in a losing cause.
