Two wins don’t a football season make, but they set the stage for something special.
That’s just what the Westgate Tigers did on Friday, punishing the St. Patrick Saints with a relentless ground game attack. The Tigers ran for five touchdowns, including three more by Hunter Mina, equalling his opening-game total, as the defending champions showed why they’re the team to beat in senior high school football in 2011.
Even when Mina, who scrambled for 53 yards, mostly in the first half, was rested, the Tigers kept the running game going, turning to Alex Gerolami for help.
The senior running back scampered for 120 yards and a score on the ground, and ran back a fourth-quarter kick-off 93 yards for another to push the Tigers to a 2-0 start with a convincing 41-7 triumph.
“We knew (St. Patrick) is good, we knew they could play, so we prepared for them in every aspect of the game and we really showed it out there,” Gerolami said.
The Tigers didn’t let up, scoring three times in the opening half – all courtesy of Mina – and three more times in the second.
Gerolami said one of the team’s key focus areas this season is to make sure they don’t let up after the half.
It will still likely mean a heavy dose of the run game, which neither St. Patrick or last week’s victims, Churchill, seemed to be able to stop.
Gerolami doesn’t want the two wins to give them too much confidence.
“It’s awesome. It motivates us really well. But we know this is just another game. And we know that next week we’ve got to keep doing it.”
Mina set the tone in the early going, scoring on runs of four, 13 and six yards to give the Tigers (2-0) a 21-0 lead at the half.
Stewart Melenick upped the score by seven early in the third quarter, punching one in from three yards out.
Gerolami equalled that effort before the quarter was out.
“The first one I tried really hard. The first touchdown I got (earlier in the game) was called back, so I really wanted to punch it in. I saw the guy coming, I just put my head down and got it in.”
The Saints, who only managed 34 yards of offence at the half, finally got the ball moving in the second half, after the Tigers sat most of their starters.
Their only score came midway through the final stanza, a 48-yard-pass from Jordan LeBlanc to Matt Mulawyshyn, who cruised down the sidelines for the major. Mulawyshyn finished with 53 yards rushing and 48 yards receiving to pace St. Patrick.
But the joy was shortlived.
On the ensuing kickoff Gerolami grabbed the ball on his own 17-yard line and didn’t stop running until he’d crossed the Saints goal line.
“I wasn’t really expecting it. I had this feeling they were going to onside it. But I had a feeling to stay back a little and sure enough, they kicked it right to me. Everyone made a great block on it and the wall worked perfect,” Gerolami said.
Tigers coach Mike McNally said the two wins are nice, but he expects his troops back and ready to work on Monday.
“We talked about the championship rings we got from last year and we said, that’s in the past, it doesn’t mean anything,” McNally said. “This is the season where you have to earn everything. Guys are going to be gunning for us and we’re not going to be hiding in the shadows.
“We’re the defending champs, and we have to play like that.”
So far, so good.
In other senior boys action:
Hammarskjold 35, Churchill 28: Nick Potter caught three TD passes from Alex Nemmec-Bakk as the Vikings improved to 2-0, tied for top spot with the Tigers. Jared White three four touchdowns, two to Devyn Chenier, in a losing effort. The Trojans fell to 0-2.
Superior Collegiate 19, St. Ignatius 13: Will Reynolds, Aaron Reynolds and Travis Gavin each scored rushing touchdowns to earn the Gryphons (1-1) their first win of 2011. Halfback Miles Miceli had the lone major for the undermanned Falcons (0-2).
