Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could stop Jake Puskas from delivering an undefeated season to his team.
The St. Ignatius Falcon ran for 129 yards and what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown as his team froze the Churchill Trojans 21-3 to take the junior boys football final Saturday afternoon.
With ice pellets being blown sideways slapping the face of those on the field at Fort William Stadium, Puskas dove over the heads of the Trojan defense to open the scoring in the first quarter.
“I think that our team kind of just realized that this wasn’t going to be an easy win and we gotta pull up our socks and get the job done,” Puskas said after the game, his bare arms banged up.
And while the score seems lopsided, it certainly wasn’t an easy win for the Falcons. The team fumbled six times in the first half. They hadn’t dropped the ball once all season before that.
“We were lucky we survived the first half,” coach Michael Saviolo said. “Churchill had a good game plan and then we shot ourselves in the foot several times.”
The formidable Falcons defense kept the team alive, only giving up 150 yards including 70 in the air, all game. Puskas helped there as well, netting six tackles.
“For them to react the way they did was a positive for us,” Savioli said.
The second half was all Falcons as Andrew Rebelo, who ran for 82 yards in the game, ran in a seven-yard touchdown in the third quarter in a drive that started all the way behind the Falcons 20-yard line.
Churchill tried to shift the momentum late in the third after a huge third down conversion, but turned the ball over on downs a few plays later.
Falcon quarterback Thomas Walser, 0 for 1 in passing all game, picked up 12 of his 52 rushing yards on a touchdown that would push an insurmountable lead onto the Trojans.
“The football season’s done and I think that we really worked hard for it and deserve this one,” Puskas said.
Savioli said he couldn’t have asked for a more talented group of kids to lead to the city championship.
“They came through every day and worked hard,” he said.
