When Jarred White is on, there’s not a defence in Thunder Bay that can stop him.
The St. Patrick Saints are now painfully aware of that fact.
White torched the Saints Friday at Fort William Stadium for 276 yards and three touchdowns, lifting the Churchill Trojans to a 34-14 win, their second straight to start the Superior Secondary Schools Athletic Association senior boys football season.
White had 205 yards and two scores at the half and appeared to be a man on a mission, recovering from a stalled opening drive to meticulously, if not spectacularly at times, push the Trojans to a 28-0 halftime lead.
It was no surprise to coach Mike Doromko.
“He’s been like that since he started for us last year,” said Doromko of his 6-foot-5 starting pivot. “You can count on him to make good decisions out on the field for us and he finishes really well.”
After linebacker Tyson Ford opened the scoring in the first on a 95-yard interception of a Jordan Leblanc pass, White took over.
He set up a two-yard TD toss to tight end Andrew Ktytor with a 63-yard bomb to Julian Schultz, who was tackled just shy of the goal line.
Minutes later Allen Chen ran it in from one yard out to make it 21-0, an insurmountable lead, or so it appeared.
But White wasn’t finished, hooking up with Devyn Chenier for a 51-yard score, his first of two on the afternoon.
“They had good coverage on me, a couple of guys on every play. Their D was good overall. They had good pass coverage and shut us down a couple of drives. But we came back and played how we could and it was just a good game overall,” said Chenier, who also scampered 29 yards for a second-half score.
White made it easy, he added.
“That Jarred every game. We have that connection. I’m used to the way he plays and when he gets mad I know he’s going to expect me to catch the ball and make plays for him too.”
It wasn’t as easy as it looked, White said.
“We didn’t really play our best game, we made lots of mistakes,” said White, back for a second year with the Trojans senior squad.
“They played good for four quarters. We’ve got to improve on lots of things.”
Nevertheless, Chenier said, it’s a far cry from a year ago.
“We can’t complain, going 0-2 last season, so it’s a good start going 2-0,” he said.
The Saints (1-1), led by fullback Jeremy Aube’s 113-yard, one touchdown performance, were held off the board until late in the third, when Aube took a direct snap and cruised a yard into the end zone, taking advantage of White’s lone miscue, a sack on the one-yard-line trying to punt the Trojans out of trouble.
Drew Meady scored the only other St. Patrick major, a one-yard, third-down run from the one early in the fourth.
