Celtics clip Eagles to stay perfect
WATERLOO — Colin Conant can do a bit of this and he can also do a bit of that.
The St. David Celtics speedster made significant contributions on offence, defence and special teams Friday to lead his squad to a 26-14 victory over the St. Mary’s Eagles in District 8 senior football league play. The reigning champions improved to 3-0 at St. David Catholic Secondary School and the Eagles dropped to 0-3.
Conant’s productive performance included a 15-yard rushing touchdown, a 120-yard TD return of a missed field goal and a thirdquarter interception that put the halt to a promising St. Mary’s drive. A second interception and 13-yard TD reception were negated by penalties.
“I feel pretty good about my performance but I left a lot on the table in terms of plays I could have made and mistakes that I have to eliminate,” said Conant.
“I have to improve every week and the team has to improve every week.”
The Eagles are a better team than their record would indicate but mistakes came back to bite them against the Celtics.
St. Mary’s made a mess of its first offensive play and St. David’s Ryan Stuut recovered the loose ball on the Eagles’ 15-yard line. On their first play from scrimmage, Celtics quarterback Sam Hepditch handed the ball to Conant, who zigged and zagged for a score that gave his team a 6-0 lead just 61 seconds after the opening kickoff. The Eagles went on to fumble and lose possession on the first play of their second offensive series as well. Lorenzo Cunamay fell on the loose ball at St. Mary’s 26-yard line but the Eagles defence held firm. Hepditch upped the score to 7-0 with a 36-yard punt into the St. Mary’s end zone. Conant scored the game’s second touchdown near the start of the second quarter when he snagged a missed field goal attempt in his own end zone and darted his way down the left sideline for a huge score on special teams. The Eagles were well on their way to their first score in the final minute of the first half but fumbled and lost possession of the ball on St. David’s one-yard line.
“Mistakes killed us. We came out slow and we had too many up and down moments,” said St. Mary’s hard-hitting linebacker Zach Bint. “Come playoffs, we’ll be a very different team. We have a lot of talent and we’re very close. We just need to mould.”
Hepditch hit Hunter Murray for a 27-yard TD pass in the second half and the Celtics extended the lead to 26-0 on a one-yard rushing score by Tyresse Griffith. That score set up a pair of 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties to St. Mary’s.
Eagles quarterback Andrew Brush turned in a solid performance and finally got his team on the board when he threw a sixyard TD pass to Jody Brown.
Adrian Turner rounded out the scoring, after a successful onside kick by the Eagles, with a six-yard TD run.
The four-team District 8 league — the St. Benedict Saints are 2-1, the Resurrection Phoenix are 1-2 — begins the second half of its regular-season schedule next week and Conant said all four teams are capable of hoisting the championship plaque later this month.
“Every week is a challenge and nothing is a given,” he said. “Everybody is working hard to beat us and we’re working just as hard, trying to beat them.”
Keyon Gratton and Aiden Godron had strong defensive outings for St. Mary’s, which faces St. Benedict in its next game. The Saints won the first meeting 26-7.
St. David faces Resurrection in its next game. The Celtics won their first clash 31-7.