THUNDER BAY -- Quarterback Bryce Covello and receiver Josh Newransky have been playing together for years.
It shows.
The duo on Friday connected for a pair of touchdowns – and Newransky ran another in from 15 yards out – as the defending champion St. Ignatius Falcons stormed back from seven down in the second half to survive a first-place battle against the Churchill Trojans and pulled out a 27-21 win in senior high school football action at Fort William Stadium.
The game, a rematch of last year’s championship final, came as advertised, the two sides battling back-and-forth for most of the match, the Falcons finally finding their game in the fourth to pull far enough ahead to secure the win.
“It’s scary to see what’s going to happen the rest of the season,” said Covello, adding receiver Jake Robertson, who caught a 34-yard scoring pass that opened the scoring in the first quarter, into the mix.
Covello was rock solid most of the afternoon, going 11-for-21 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. Newransky finished with six catches for 163 yards, including touchdown catches of 63 and eight yards, while Nic Cull gained 115 yards on the ground, despite the Trojans bottling up the box most of the contest.
“I’ve been playing with (Bryce) for a long time. But I have to give all the credit to the O-line – both sides of the line, actually. Without them, he has no time to throw the ball,” Newransky said.
One area the Falcons must clean up is on special teams.
It cost them a pair of touchdowns on the day.
James Basalyga took the opening kick-off of the second half 93 yards for a major that put Churchill up 14-7.
Then, in the final minute of the fourth the Trojans Alexander Blekkenhorst blocked a punt deep in Falcons territory and teammate Stefan Nahachewsky scooped up the loose ball and scored, the extra point making it a six-point ball game with 30 seconds left on the clock.
The ensuing onside kick, however, was recovered by St. Ignatius.
“Special teams are a third of the game,” Covello said. “We’ve got to keep our heads in it all the way at the end and stuff like that won’t happen.”
Derek Steadwell had Churchill’s other touchdown, hauling in an 18-yard second-quarter pass from Dylan Ford that tied the game 7-7.
Covello said it would have been easy to get down after the shocking start to the second half, but the way the Falcons responded says a lot about the team’s resiliency.
“It shows the character of our team. We’ve always in past years faced adversity. We’re good at coming back from it. We don’t hang our heads,” Covello said. “We have a lot of vocal leaders on this team that keep our guys up when we’re down and when we’re in pressure situations.”
St. Patrick 24, Hammarskjold 9: Kellen Steudle scored on runs of 21 and 52 yards and on a 27-yard interception return to help the Saints even their record at 1-1. Derek Pucci caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Marti Martinez for the Vikings lone major.
