OFSAA Football Bowl Recap (Eastern Bowl): #CFC50 St Thomas More dominates en route to their second straight OFSAA title

Feature photo credit – Ryan McCabe

Back-to-back, doesn’t that sound sweet? For the second time in the program’s history, the #CFC50 St. Thomas More Knights are taking home back-to-back OFSAA titles after defeating the #CFC50 Paul Dwyer Saints 38-15 in the Eastern Bowl.

This game started out quite competitive despite what the final score indicates, but four interceptions and two fumble recoveries by the Knights’ would be to much for the Saints to overcome.

It took over seven minutes before either team cracked the goal line with #CFC100 Michael Chris-Ike opening the scoring on a 2 yard touchdown run to give the Knights a 7-0 lead.

Paul Dwyer stood tall after taking the first blow, answering back in just under two minutes with a long drive that was finished by Bobby Cadman on a four yard scamper to the end zone – but that is where the wheels would fall off for the Saints.

After an interception by Eric Gaudet, quarterback Zach Odoardi found Jacob Baker streaking down the middle for a 71 touchdown pass to give St. Thomas More a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

It looked as though the Saints were going to answer back with another touchdown after an interception gave them the ball at the Knights’ 12 yard line, but the end result was less than desirable. Settling for a field goal to try and pull within four points, Paul Dwyer would only end up with a rouge for their troubles which left the score at 14-8.

The battle ensued for the majority of the second quarter, but then within a blink of an eye, St. Thomas More was all of a sudden up 28-8 going into halftime. It took just 53 seconds, but in that time frame Baker was able to snag a 50 yard pick-6 to extend the lead to 21-8, then Chris-Ike added his second touchdown on the very last play of the half, which essentially put this game to rest.

#CFC100 Michael Chris-Ike had 2 TDS and 150yards for @STM_Football today pic.twitter.com/yRNw9CSY7v

— Ryan McCabe (@CFC_RyanMcCabe) November 28, 2016

“The offensive line was pushing and came out with a lot of energy. “ Chris-Ike says. “They always do their job everyday, and all I have to do is run through the holes, it’s easy for me. The offensive line does a great job of getting to the second level, then all I see is green and go.”

Baker was far from done, however, showing the scouts he will always play four quarters of football when he grabbed his second pick-6 of the day midway through the fourth quarter to give the Knights’ a decisive 38-8 lead.

Another guy who had a massive game, Edgerin Williams, had a lot of praise for Baker,

“Amazing leader, amazing player, and he does big things. He is a big time player.”

Williams could say the same about himself after grabbing 5 passes for 64 yards, as well as coming up with timely plays on defence,

“I was just pumped coming into this game, I was ready to rock.” Williams says with a smile. “I had to execute on both offence and defence. I had high expectations so I had to fill them.”

Photo credit: Ryan McCabe

Chris-Ike would finish the game with an eye popping 145 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns, which quite frankly is a slow day for him – which speaks to the talent he has at his disposal. Odoardi had a very efficient day under centre completing 9 of his 13 passes for 182 yards and the touchdown toss to Baker, while Justin Almonte was a beast on defence racking up six tackles.

Not to be forgotten, Paul Dwyer put forth a valiant effort, but timely plays by the Knights would ultimately lead to their demise.Tristan Park had a productive day from his receiver position catching 5 passes for 68 yards, while Bobby Cadman added seven tackles to go along with his first quarter touchdown.

The win gives St. Thomas More four OFSAA titles to their name, and with the potential for a ton of talent to make a return next year, along with a group of junior champions making the leap to senior, a three-peat is certainly in the cards.

 

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