(Posted 8 a.m., Sept. 25)
St. Peter, St. Matts kick off HS football season with impressive wins
By Mike Beasley
The Orleans Star

It was quite a kick-off to the high school football season for the St. Peter Knights and the St. Matthew Tigers. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for their opposition in the National Capital Secondary Schools Athletic Association (NCSSAA).

In their season opening games last Friday, the Knights crushed the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Lancers 42-6, while the Tigers cruised to a 46-0 romp over the Glebe Gryphons.

Of note, the Tigers-Gryphons match-up was stopped in the fourth quarter with lightning strikes in the area and a tornado warning issued for Eastern Ontario.

In other opening week action, the Colonel By Cougars beat the Philomen Wright Falcons 32-12, the Ashbury Colts beat the Immaculata Saints 36-7 and the Franco-Cité Falcons downed the St. Mark Lions 36-7.

The Knights’ offensive power was on display against the Lancers as St. Peter quarterback Ryan Licandro torched the Sir Wilfrid secondary for three touchdown passes.

On the ground, Fabrice Mukendi scampered for a pair of rushing majors and was a force carrying the rock all game.

“I’m happy to be heathy and playing football again,” Mukendi said after spending a portion of the summer recovering from an ankle injury suffered while playing for the Cumberland Panthers Junior Varsity team.

“I anticipate that we’ll have a good season in 2018. We (St. Peter) have very good coaches, a solid group of talented kids with one of the best QBs in the country. It should be fun,” added Mukendi.

Speaking of Licandro, the Grade 12 senior quarterback likes what he sees in this year’s Knights team.

We have the potential and all the ingredients to do very well,” said the strong armed athlete. “Our goal is to win our association and qualify for OFSAA.”

The 2018 OFSAA Football Bowls Series will be held at TD Place in Ottawa from November 26-28, so the representative from the NCSAA won’t have far to travel.

The Knights traditional rivals at St. Matthew may have a say in the matter as they looked very impressive in running roughshod over the visitors from Glebe.

There seemed to be no stopping Lovely Tshibanda, the Tigers all-purpose highlight reel who galloped his way past the Gryphons defenders for three impressive running majors.

“Despite the lopsided score I have to give Glebe a shout-out for playing hard and competing until the game was called,” said Tshibanda. “I like our team and have to give my teammates, specifically the offensive line a lot of credit for creating holes to run through.”

One game does not make a season but it did give high school football fans a glimpse of what to expect in the coming weeks.

The two schools are tentatively scheduled to meet up in the All Saints Bowl on Thursday, Oct.18 at 7 p.m. on the artificial turf at Millennium Park.

If the field is not available at that time, the contest and kick-off time may be moved to 3 p.m. at the St Peter.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)