THUNDER BAY – The only time having the lead really matters is when the clock strikes zero.
Tell that to the Churchill Trojans.
Dyk Taw booted a game-winning 22-yard field goal with 1:05 to go in the fourth quarter on Friday, the three-point effort just enough to propel the Trojans to a 16-15 win over the Westgate Tigers, who had been in front since scoring a safety with 2:17 left in the opening period.
Quarterback Andrew Freitag, who finished 11-18 for 245 yards and a touchdown in the air, also dashed into the end zone from eight yards out midway through the fourth, closing an eight-point gap to two – the two-point conversion halted in its tracks.
All that matters is the final score, Freitag said.
“The first half we started slow. We weren’t playing like how we practices,” Freitag said. “It was tough. We grinded, but we weren’t executing properly. And I think throughout the second half everybody got their feet going and played how we practised.
“It’s the only thing you can do when you’re down, and you’ve got to get up.”
The win, the team’s second of the season over the Tigers, improved the Trojans high school senior football record to 3-1.
The game pivoted on a pair of second-quarter plays.
The Tigers Jordan Bellinger intercepted a Freitag pass and took it into the end zone for an apparent pick six and a possible 15-0 Westgate lead.
But the play was overturned on an offside call and the Trojans pounced.
Freitag and James Basalyga connected for a 76-yard touchdown catch-and-run play that pulled the Trojans within one, down 8-7.
“I got that quick slant into the middle and I just took off and it was a nice pass from the quarterback,” said Basalyga, who caught seven passes for 151 yards on the day.
Tigers quarterback John Czupryna restored a seven-point Westgate lead on a seven-yard sweep late in the second and the upset-minded team added another point on a rouge to start the third.
Churchill struggled in the red zone, unable to punch one in from the goal line early in the fourth and turned the ball over on downs, still trailing 15-7.
But Freitag hooked up once again with his favourite receiver Basalyga for a 40-yard pass that brought the ball deep into Westgate territory. Moments later the quarterback dove across the goal line, though the two-point conversion attempt was tipped away by the Tigers’ Cole Arnold.
Connor Byerley made a 34-yard circus catch late in the fourth that set Taw up for his chip-shot winner.
Czyupryna said it was a tough way to lose, especially after nearly pulling off the upset.
"We were all pretty gassed and didn't have faith going into the game, because we always get beat up in these games. It turned out to be what we didn't think it would be," he said. "I don't know what happened. We were all pretty tired."
