SAULT STE. MARIE — There’s still some unfinished business, but they’re certainly going to enjoy the moment.
The St. Mary’s Knights captured the senior high school football Northern Ontario Secondary School Athletics (NOSSA) title on Saturday afternoon thanks to a 23-6 victory over Sudbury’s Lo-Ellen Park Knights at Superior Heights.
The Knights rode a strong defensive effort with timely big plays en route to the win over the Sudbury champs.
“They were a tough team,” St. Mary’s coach Jim Monico said. “We played really well on defence and made some big plays when we had to.”
The win by St. Mary’s continues a run of dominance by Sault teams at the senior level at NOSSA that has seen local schools capture the northern title 11 times since 2010.
For St. Mary’s, it’s the first NOSSA title in senior football for the school since 2012.
Monico credited Lo-Ellen in the game for making things tough on the home team.
“They were a good team,” Monico said. “Their quarterback (Steven Sola) is fantastic. He was a headache for us all game.”
Monico added that the big play in the game was an interception by Jaiden Trudeau at the St. Mary’s goalline late in the opening half was a difference in the game.
“We end up getting a single to go up two scores (after the pick),” Monico said. “That was a big swing.”
“The defence came to play today,” added Anthony Blonda, who had a touchdown in the second half to help St. Mary’s pull away. “That pick by Jaiden, a complete momentum-shifter. They were on our one-yard line. I can admit I was stressing out a bit. Him getting that pick (and running it back) changed the way the game went.”
St. Mary’s got on the board fist early on as Jack McPherson punched the ball in from three yards out just under four minutes into the game. A two-point convert thrown to Nate Carter made it 8-0 early.
Late in the opening half, St. Mary’s took a 9-0 lead after getting a single point on a punt by Carter into the endzone that couldn’t be returned out by Lo-Ellen.
The rouge came after Lo-Ellen had the ball deep in St. Mary’s territory before Trudeau picked off a pass by Lo-Ellen quarterback Steven Sola at the goalline and returned it 79 yards.
St. Mary’s extended the lead in the third quarter on a five-yard touchdown run by McPherson. The subsequent convert by Carter made it 16-0 St. Mary’s.
Lo-Ellen brought the ball deep into St. Mary’s territory thanks to a 59-yard pass and run by Carter Sagle on a pass from Sola and the capitalized on the drive when Sola ran the ball in from three yards out to cut the St. Mary’s lead to 16-6.
After a Kieran Juma interception with 5:03 to go got St. Mary’s possession of the ball midway through the fourth quarter, Blonda capitalized with a 21-yard touchdown run with just under three minutes to go. The convert on the play from Carter made the score 23-6 St. Mary’s.
Blonda finished the day with 126 yards rushing on 15 carries in the win.
“He was a huge part of the victory, absolutely,” Monico said of Blonda. “He’s a big, strong guy. We always get on him to run north and south and he did a good job of that today. Him and the offensive line made a difference down the stretch.”
Harley Wardell caught three passes for 46 yards and ran for 20 yards on four carries while quarterback Matti Tucker threw for 130 yards on 9 of 16 passing while also running the ball three times for 17 yards.
Trudeau had 4.5 tackles defensively in addition to the interception while Cian Derbowka also had 4.5 and Koen Kurylo had four tackles for the Knights.
Sola finished the day completing eight of 30 pass attempts for 151 yards and ran for 72 yards on seven rushes and added 4.5 tackles defensively.
Sagle caught three passes for 72 yards.
Also defensively for Lo-Ellen, Michael McKernon and Adam Scott had 4.5 tackles each as well.
Lo-Ellen advanced directly into Saturday’s NOSSA final by way of winning the Sudbury city title.
St. Mary’s now awaits their opponent in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) bowl series later this month in Windsor. The team will face the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association champion in the Western Bowl on Nov. 27.
