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 St. Peter Knight defender Fran�cois Donardi tries to chase down St. Matt's running back Alex Vilain in the senior boys match-up between the two east end rivals last Thursday. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO |
What a difference a year makes. At this time last year the St. Peter Knights senior boys football team had just beaten the St. Matthew Tigers on their way to winning their seventh city championship in the last 13 years.
Jump ahead 12 months to their annual match-up on Oct. 10 and it was payback time for the Tigers as they mercilessly ran up the score against their east end. The result was a 50-0 drubbing.
But while the end result was much different than last year, the game itself was a penalty- and mistake-filled repeat of last year's horrendous affair � at least in the first half.
Penalties, dropped passes and turnovers on the part of both teams left a pair zeroes on the scoreboard until late in the first half when the back-to-back unnecessary roughness penalties gave the Tigers excellent field position on the Knights' five yard line. It took just one play for St. Matt's running back Gariche Riviere to run the ball in for the touchdown.
The major score was a sign of things to come.
Following the halftime break things quickly went from bad to worse for the Knights starting with a botched third down play deep in their own end.
Facing a third and long situation on their own 12-yard line, the Knights coaching staff were contemplating giving up a safety to get better field position when they noticed they were missing a player on offence. As they tried to tell their players to take a time out, the centre snapped the ball to the punter who mishandled it and ended up getting tackled on the five.
Two plays later Nathan Lawler ran it in to put the Tigers up 14-0.
From there the floodgates opened as the Tigers turned four Knight turnovers into 28 points including a pick six by Matthew Michael and a fumble recovery in the end zone by AR Ismail.
Riviere scored two more TDs and Alex Vilain caught another from first year quarterback Dylan Craig.
Back up wide receiver Ethan Orser also got into the action as the smallest guy on the team caught a two-point convert to make the final score 50-0.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
TAPROOM 260 presents Bird King live from 8 p.m. No cover charge. Located in the Orléans Town Centre on Centrum Blvd.
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE at Orléans United Church, 1111 Orléans Bvd. "A Very Noisy Christmas" at 5 p.m.; "Countdown to Christmas" at 7 p.m.; "Candlelight Communion Service" at 9 p.m..
TAPROOM 260 presents Ryan King live from 8 p.m. No cover charge. Located in the Orléans Town Centre on Centrum Blvd.
THE STRAY DOG BREWING COMPANY presents Rory Taillon from 8 p.m. Tickets $15 in advance or $20 at the door. For tickets visit straydogbrewing.ca. The Stray Dog Brewing Company is located at 501 Lacolle Way in the Taylor Creek Business Park.
ORLÉANS GREENS CHRISTMAS PARTY 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Queenswood Heights Cummunity Centre, 1485 Duford St. Light snacks will be served. Kids and adults of all ages are welcome.
