THUNDER BAY – Sometimes close counts in something other than horseshoes and hand grenades.
Sir Winston Churchill Trojans kicker Dyk Taw's game-winning field goal try was wide left on Friday night, but the ball bounced over the head of a St. Ignatius defender and out of the end zone for a rare senior high school football rouge.
The single point was all the Trojans needed, securing a wild 22-21 triumph over the three-time defending champion Falcons.
Churchill’s Braeden Prochnicki, who hauled in touchdown receptions of 54 and 60 yards – not to mention a pair of 50-yard plus punt and kickoff returns – said it was a total team effort that got them the win.
“That last play, we looked at each other in the huddle and said we’re a family. We’d lay our lives on the line for this play. No matter what happens, win or lose, we go down as family. We had no doubt in our mind,” said Prochnicki, after the Trojans allowed the Falcons to tie the game with a final-minute touchdown, only to march down the field to the St. Ignatius 25, just 44.5 seconds remaining on the clock when they took over the ball.
“This win means everything. This win shows who the better team in this city is. This win shows where we stand in the city. This proves to us the talent, the determination and the effort – mainly the effort – that our whole team has.”
With the win the unbeaten Trojans improved to 3-0, the Falcons falling to .500 at 2-2 with the loss.
Though it turned out to be anyone’s game in the end, it was all Churchill at the start.
Receiver James Basalyga was first to cross the goal line, snagging an 11-yard pass from quarterback Dylan Ford 4:25 into the game.
After the Falcons conceded a safety and started paying closer attention to Basalyga, it was Prochnicki’s turn, scampering home from 54 yards out for a 14-0 Trojans lead, the team missing a second straight two-point conversion attempt.
The Falcons finally got on the board late in the second half, Leonardo Pernia nailing a 24-yard field goal to cut the opposition lead to 11 at the break.
Ford struggled early in the second, picked off by Kelton Snever, his first of two interceptions on the day.
A couple of plays later a facemask penalty on the Trojans landed the ball on their one-yard line, Anthony Gojsic taking it up the middle to close the gap to14-11, Nick D’Angelo adding the two-point conversion.
Pernia tied it 29 seconds into the fourth, hitting a field goal from 32 yards out.
But their good fortune didn't last long.
With five minutes to go and the Falcons gambling on a third-and-four near midfield, a high snap escaped quarterback Jordan Maki's grasp and the Trojans took over on their own 50. One play later Prochnicki was in the end zone for a second time.
Still, St. Ignatius kept the pressure on and after a controversial pass interference call in the end zone, D’Angelo barrelled home from eight yards out, Pernia tying the game 21-21 with the extra point.
“It was very exciting,” said Churchill coach Mike Doromko. “We didn’t play our best game, but we came out with a win and that’s what we were going for.”
