High school football battle
Resurrection and St. Benedict play for spot in final
The St. Benedict Saints and St. David Celtics are on course for a rematch of last year’s District 8 senior football final.
The Resurrection Phoenix will try to stop that from happening.
The Phoenix will travel to Cambridge on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Saints in a sudden-death semifinal playoff game at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. The winner advances to Friday night’s championship game against the St. David Celtics, while the loser is finished.
The Saints twice defeated the Phoenix during the regular season — 21-7 and 22-7 — but both games were competitive.
Saints head coach Joe Vale expects more of the same Tuesday.
“Rez is a very solid team with a strong core of talented players. Our guys realize that, even though we have beaten them twice this year, we will have to be at our very best again to win this game on Tuesday,” he said. “Our defence will have to control their heavy run game and force them into some second-and-long situations. Offensively, controlling the tempo with a mix of run and pass will hopefully lead to some success.”
Saints quarterback Andy Horscroft threw for three touchdown passes in the first victory over the Phoenix and last week scored a rushing touchdown and tossed a TD pass to Josh Nikolic.
When they don’t have the ball, Saints safety/receiver Nick Stainsby is a strong pass defender along with defensive backs Josh Cumber and Avery O’Hare. The speedy Stainsby, who returned an interception for a touchdown last week, also returns kicks for St. Benedict.
For Resurrection, linebacker/tight end Brady Grosz, defensive end/tight end London Dawson, wide receiver Jaxon Matcheski and running back/linebacker Dylan Robbescheuten have to be at their best for the Phoenix to have a shot at the upset win.
“We need to do our jobs, win the turnover battle and not give up big plays,” said Phoenix head coach Matt Gallagher of the task ahead.
The District 8 final is slated for University Stadium at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to a Central Western Ontario (CWOSSA) playoff game against a District 1/7 (Bluewater) representative Nov. 10.
Meanwhile, the Waterloo County (WCSSAA) playoffs begin Thursday with quarter-final games being played at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School and St. David Catholic Secondary School.
Here’s a quick look at this week’s games:
DISTRICT 8
Tuesday Resurrection (2-4) at St. Benedict (5-1), 3 p.m. The law of averages would suggest the Phoenix will eventually defeat the Saints. It just won’t happen Tuesday against a Saints team that knocked off the Celtics just two weeks ago.
WCSSAA
Thursday Preston (2-4) vs. Grand River (5-1), 5 p.m., at St. David There’s nothing fancy about what the Renegades have been doing on offence but the no-nonsense running attack has been successful. Grand River is on a fivegame win streak, dating back to a Week 1 loss to Elmira, which adds to the intrigue when you consider Preston defeated Elmira for one of its two wins. The Panthers, however, are coming off a 16-13 loss to the KCI Raiders in their final game and that doesn’t bode well for them this week. The Renegades’ win streak will hit six. Elmira (4-2) vs. WCI (5-1), 7 p.m., at St. David The Lancers have won their past two games over Waterloo-Oxford and Huron Heights after getting whipped in a Week 4 loss to Sir John A. Macdonald. WCI opened with five straight wins but were humbled last week in a 51-9 loss to Jacob Hespeler. This will likely be the most competitive of the quarter-final games and the call here is for Elmira to advance.
Waterloo-Oxford (3-3) vs. Jacob Hespeler (6-0), 7 p.m., at Jacob Hespeler The Hawks haven’t been challenged this fall and that includes a 56-12 win over the Crusaders in late September. Jacob Hespeler is far and away the best team in WCSSAA and will win big here on its home turf. Huron Heights (3-3) vs. SJAM (4-2), 5 p.m., at Jacob Hespeler The Highlanders have won three straight since falling to Waterloo-Oxford and SJAM head coach Josh Alexander has a knack for getting his team to play when it matters most. The football program at Huron Heights is heading in the right direction but the senior season ends here.
Last week: 6-2; Season: 36-12