Senior Boys
Football
Lancers
post first win of the season against
St. Matthew Tigers
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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St.
Matthew Tigers quarterback Mcaulley Banning tries to escape a Sir Wilfrid
Laurier tackler during the Lancers 20-17 win over the Tigers on Thursday.
Fred Sherwin/Photo
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The Sir Wilfrid
Laurier Lancers are no longer winless this season after they downed the
St. Matthew Tigers 20-17 on Thursday in a come-from-behind victory that featured an outstanding
performance by Harry Short.
Due to a lack
of numbers no fewer than eight Lancers have had to play both sides of the
ball this season including Short, who has the added responsibility of playing
on special teams.
Short got the
Lancers off to a quick start when he ran the opening kick-off back 40 yards
for the first touchdown of the game.
The Tigers responded
two series later when J.P Hamelin ran the ball 90 yards on a reverse. After
the extra point was good the Tigers held a slim 7-6 lead.
The Lancers took
the lead early in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal by Rob Carle.
The Tigers responded once again with a field goal of their own from about
23 yards out off the foot of Hamelin to go 10-9.
They improved
their lead to 17-9 late in the first half on a seven yard pass from Mcaulley
Banning to Steve Belliveau at the back of the end zone. It was Belliveau
who actually initiated the touchdown drive when he picked off an errant
pass thrown by Lancers quarterback Dustin McMahon.
Both teams defences'
played extremely well in the third quarter to set up an exciting finish.
The Lancers caught
a break early in the fourth quarter when punter Matt Azevedo managed to
kick the ball out of bounds at St. Matt's seven yard line. A huge sack on
the ensuing series meant that the Tigers had to make a decision -- either
punt the ball out of their end zone and risk putting the Lancers in an excellent
position, or give up a safety and kick the ball off from their 35-yard line.
The problem with
giving up the safety, however, was that it would give the Lancers a chance
to win the game with a converted touchdown. In the end, the Tigers decided
to give up the safety and let their defence take care of business.
What resulted
was a 24-yard kick return by Short and a 63-yard drive orchestrated by Banning
that set up a seven yard touchdown run up the middle by Short. Fortunately
for the Tigers, but unfortunately for the Lancers, Sir Wil was called for
an illegal procedure on the play and the touchdown was called back.
On third and
seven, the Lancers fumbled the ball on the hand-off which gave the Tigers
possession on their eight-yard-line. When the Lancers' defence shut them
down once again, the Tigers opted to give up another safety which make it
a four point game.
The Lancers seemed
fated to lose their fourth game of the season when Banning through the ball
down the sideline to a leaping Merlin James who tipped the ball into the
hands of the Tiger defender.
As the game approached
the final minute things looked pretty bleak for the Lancers, but once again
their defence prevented St. Matt's from picking up the first down and they
had to punt the ball from deep in the own end.
With the minute
flag flapping on the sideline, Short ran the punt back to the Tigers' 37
yard line and then ripped off three straight runs of eight, 15 and 13 yards
to score the go ahead touchdown after already playing the entire game.
It was a remarkable
fourth quarter performance by the Lancers who refused to give up despite
repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot.
"We knew
we had to come home with the win. So we just kept at it," said Short
who is 5-foot-6 and weighs in at a solid 165 lbs.
As for playing
both sides of the ball this year, Short says he couldn't be happier with
the arrangement.
"I love
it. It's great being able to hit people," said Short who had the tackle
of the game when he brought down a much taller and much heavier Serge Tessier
in the second quarter.
After the game,
Lancers' head coach Eric Kukkonen could not say enough great things about
his star running back.
"Isn't he
something. He's got so much heart and so much enthusiasm. He's an amazing
kid," said Kukkonen who praised all of his fourth year guys including
Carle, Alex Hepworth, Jeremy Seal and Brandon Blakely, all of whom played
both sides of the ball along with Short.
"The boys
just hung in there. The defence kept coming at them. They really won the
game for us in the fourth quarter. We just need to keep getting better.
At this point any team is beatable."
The Lancers will
hope to continue their winning ways on Oct. 16 when they play the winless
South Carleton Storm at Sir Wil. They then close out their regular season
schedule on Oct. 23 against the St. Mark Lions who beat them 22-0 in their
season opener on Sept. 16.
(Posted 10:30
p.m., Oct. 9)
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