At 6-foot-8, 14-year-old Austin Burchat is probably the biggest player in junior varsity football.
On Thursday he used that size to his advantage, rumbling in from four yards out for one score and taking a punt return back 37 yards untouched for a second major to lead the St. Ignatius Falcons to a 31-6 win over the Westgate Tigers at Fort William Stadium.
“It’s all pretty blurry,” he said of the game’s first touchdown, a run up the gut that saw him power his way over the goal line.
“I got hit and kept going.”
The second came as a result of just a two-yard punt that went straight off the side of Darien Fuchs’ foot, a line drive that Burchat snagged out of the air and took off toward the Westgate end zone.
“I just do whatever is instinct and whatever I’ve been practicing to do,” he said. “It all comes naturally out there.”
Falcons coach Mike Savioli says Burchat is committed to and loves the game of football, which makes coaching him a dream.
“When you have a guy like that, who is big and strong and loves football, it makes things a little bit easier for us on both sides of the ball,” Savioli said, his team improving to a perfect 3-0 on the season.
“You can see his speed. He’s got good hands and he can catch. So he’s got all the tools and to boot he’s a good student and a good kid.”
Burchat by no means was the only Falcons player to shine in the contest.
Nic Cull, who entered the game with 172 yards on the ground in two outings, nearly doubled his total on Thursday, rushing for 156 yards and a score, his league-leading fifth major of the season.
“Nic’s a really strong committed football player. He’s a guy that teams are going to try to stop week in and week out. He’s dangerous,” Savioli said.
Cull, who one play earlier kept the drive alive with an eight-yard gain on third down, cruised 52 yards for his score, undressing three Westgate defenders with an in-stride cut at the 23-yard line that left nothing but the goal line in front of him.
The fourth-quarter touchdown made it 24-6, taking any momentum away from Westgate, who had just gotten on the board on a 27-yard strike from Fuchs to Reid Stajkowski, cutting the Falcons lead to 11. It was the first time in three outings the Falcons allowed an opposition player into their end zone.
St. Ignatius led 10-0 at the half, then scored again late in the third, Jake Robertson hooking up with Anthony Valente for a 38-yard touchdown.
The Falcons with the win improved to 3-0, while the Tigers dropped to 1-2.
St. Patrick 31, Superior Collegiate 0: Sebastian Foglia rushed for 105 yards, including a 75-yard score, to lead the Saints the win, their third in three outings. Luke Jakubowski and Liam Stewart also had rushing scores, while Austin Pegoraro caught a 12-yard pass for a touchdown
Hammarkjold 21, Sir Winston Churchill 13: William MacDonough scored three times on the ground as the Vikings picked up their second win of the season. Braeden Prochnicki had rushing and receiving touchdowns for the Trojans, his 34-yard catch giving Churchill its only lead of the game early in the first quarter.
