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Tigers battle back to tie Falcons

Hunter McLean scored twice for Westgate and St. Ignatius' Jordan Maki tossed a pair of touchdown passes in 16-16 draw.
Trent Savard
The Falcons Trent Savard races down the field on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019 with Westgate's Quinton Fuchs hot in pursuit. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY – When Hunter McLean got out of bed on Friday morning, a football game against the St. Ignatius Falcons was the furthest thing from his mind.

An online threat had closed Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute for the day and the afternoon and evening gridiron contests were in doubt.

But after much discussion, school board officials decided not to postpone the games, giving McLean his big chance.

He made the most of it, running a kickoff return back 80 yards for one score and bursting down the middle 35 yards for another that gave the Tigers a 13-9 lead at the time.

They’d surrender the lead late in the fourth, but thanks to an Evan Basalyga 10-yard field goal with no time left on the clock, Westgate clawed back to earn a 16-16 tie against the defending senior champion St. Ignatius Falcons at a wet and windy Fort William Stadium.

“I just thought the game wasn’t going to happen and I was really upset with that,” said McLean. “I just kept my mentality focused.”

Contributing heavily to the outcome helped McLean put those emotions aside.

“I’m just feeling happy. It’s just my first two touchdowns ever and I was just super excited,” he said.

The Tigers (1-2-1) were trailing 9-0 entering the second half, but it took all of 14 seconds to close the gap.

Brendan Hall received the kick and handed it to McLean, who turned on the afterburners and was off to the races.

Ninety-yards later it was a three-point game.

“On the last defender, I saw him going toward the outside and I cut into the inside and that threw him off,” he said.

Early in the contest, the Falcons backed the Tigers up at their goal line, leading to a two-point safety, the only points of the opening quarter.

St. Ignatius (2-0-2) finally scored the game’s first major 40 seconds into the second, quarterback Jordan Maki and receiver Jacob Anton hooking up for a 57-yard scoring play.

Late in the third the Falcons had a chance to double their lead, but kicker Kieran Mulligan missed a 25-yard field-goal attempt.

The Tigers threatened late in the period, marching to the St. Ignatius 11, but Hall coughed up the football and the Falcons Dylan Todesichuk fell on it to end the threat.

The next Tigers possession, the Falcons weren’t so lucky, McLean flying up the middle for a 35-yard touchdown and a 13-9 lead.

But the Falcons weren’t finished, even though Maki was picked off by Westgate’s Devin Dubray on their next drive.

Maki made up for it when he got the ball back under centre, connecting with Kevan White on a 31-yard pass and Dylan Darosa for 17 more, setting up a 14-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Trent Savard, the Falcons taking a 16-13 lead.

After failing on their previous attempt, Westgate had one last chance, taking the ball back with 1:25 and 78 yards to go.

Basalyga made a one-handed, 21-yard grab down the left sideline, a play augmented by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that moved the ball to the St. Ignatius 34. A pass interference call advanced them 15 yards closer to the 17.

Basalyga’s 24-yard field goal attempt was blocked, but the Falcons were offside.

They were offside on the next play, giving quarterback Kam Vanderwees two more chances. Two more incompletions and another offside penalty gave Basalyga one last chance and he nailed it for the tie.

“It went back and forth,” Maki said. “We were up by three and took a turn back. We had a great drive on offence and just unfortunate penalties that were given there. That’s what led to the tie,” Maki said.

Hammarskjold 25, St. Patrick 1: Justin Nadon scored twice and Eathan Porter had an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as the undefeated Vikings improved to 3-0-1.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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