HS Football
Knights overwhelmed by northern invaders in OFSAA bowl game
By Fred Sherwin
The Orleans Star

Conor MacDonald hauls in a Ryan Licandro pass during the OFSAA National Capital Bowl. Fred Sherwin/Photo

The St. Peter Knights were hoping to end their season on high note against the Korah Colts in the OFSAA National Capital Bowl on Tuesday, but the Sault St. Marie team flipped the script on the hometown boys, cruising to a convincing 45-12 win.

The Knights got off to a strong start on a snow covered field at TD Place. They managed to manufacture a 65-yard opening drive that included two long passes from quarterback Ryan Licandro to Jonathan Agette. Licandro then ran the ball in from the one yard line to give his team an early 6-0 lead.

In a foreshadowing of the type of night the Knights would have, the Colts responded with an impressive scoring drive of their own, moving the ball 68 yards on just six plays. A successful extra point attempt would give the northern invaders a 7-6 lead.

The Colts struck again on their next possession, scoring their second touchdown in just two plays to increase their lead to 14-6.

The Colts were knocking on the door again on their next possession when Knights defensive back Justice Koradi intercepted a pass on the 15-yard line to thwart the scoring threat. Unfortunately, St. Pete’s would give the ball back seven plays later on the Colts’ 45.

The two teams then exchanged interceptions, before the Colts were finally able to put a sustained drive together to score their third converted touchdown of the half and take a 21-6 lead heading into the break.

St. Peter Knights running back and kick returner Jonathan Agette scampers for a decent gain against the Korah Colts in the OFSAA National Capital Bowl at TD Place last week. Fred Sherwin/Photo

Any hope of a Knights comeback were dashed when the Colts opened the second half with a 67-yard scoring drive. They ran eight straight running plays, including 25-yard touchdown dash that improved their lead to 28-6.

A 27-yard field goal on Korah’s next series would extend the Colts advantage to 25 points.

The Knights position went from bad to worse when the Colts closed out the third quarter with another long drive that had them knocking on the door yet again. Sticking to their ground game, the Colts moved the ball 67 yards on nine plays culminating with a seven yard TD run.

Trailing 38-6, the Knights had every reason to mail in the rest of the game, but instead they rallied for a 66-yard scoring drive that included a pair of long passes from Licandro to Koradi that set up 15-yard touchdown run by the St. Peter quarterback.

The Colts closed out the scoring with another long touchdown drive that in-cluded six straight running plays.

Despite the fact that the Knights were obviously undersized and undermanned against their opponents, head coach Jim Mick didin’t make any excuses in a post game interview. Instead, he commended his players for playing a full four quarters.

“We were outmanned today, but we got this far on heart,” said Mick, “These kids have a lot of heart and they showed it today.”

Despite the loss the Knights can look back on an undefeated regular season and their second city championship in as many years. They can also look forward to next season when a talented group of juniors will be making the move up to the senior team and a shot at another city title.

(Posted Nov. 29, 2018.)