Irish going bowling

Notre Dame will be playing for an Ontario senior high school football championship for the first time since 2005.

After upsetting heavily favoured three- time defending Golden Horseshoe Bowl champion A. N. Myer with a game- winning touchdown in the final minute to get to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association ( SOSSA) Bowl Tuesday in Hamilton, the Fighting Irish had a much easier time getting to next week’s provincial title game.

Brandon Graziani threw two touchdown passes to Jonah Gruarin and ran for two more helping the Welland high school to a 42- 18 victory over the Hamilton and district champion, the Sir Allan MacNab Lions.

Justin Succar, with two rushing touchdowns; and Gruarin, four converts and a single; rounded out the scoring for Notre Dame, which came into the game SOSSA Bowl against 15th- ranked MacNab ranked 14th nationally.

With the win, the Irish secure a berth in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl next Tuesday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.

Their opponent in that game will be another team from Hamilton, the St. Thomas More Knights.

St. Thomas More defeated Oakville Blessed Trinity 54- 18 in other provincial semifinal action Tuesday.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 15- 0 lead against MacNab on an 85- yard rouge on Gruarin’s kickoff, a threeyard run by Succar and a 19- yard by Graziani.

MacNab quarterback Quincy Vaughan hit Jack Morin with a fouryard scoring strike to narrow the deficit to 15- 6.

The Irish went up 29- 6 on touchdown runs from Graziani, 16 yards; and Succar, nine yards.

Notre Dame answered Vaughan’s 10- yard major with touchdown passes of 50 and 22 yards, respectively, to Gruarin.

MacNab rounded the scoring in Tuesday afternoon’s game at Ron Joyce Field with Vaughan’s 10- yard pass to Morin.

Graziani, this season’s offensive most valuable player in the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association, completed five of nine passes for 145 yards.

He was Notre Dame’s second- leading rusher with 98 yards, four fewer than Succar.

MacNab had the edge in passing yardage, 257 to 145, but the Irish had more success moving the chains on the ground, 208 yards to 90.

Notre Dame gained 20 first downs; MacNab, 17.

Kickoff for the Golden Horseshoe Bowl is 7 p. m. at Tim Hortons Field, the home of the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger- Cats.