Football battle
St. David will face Resurrection in District 8 senior final
KITCHENER — The field conditions were ideal for Braydan Schneider’s postgame celebration.
The St. David Celtics slotback/ defensive back, immediately after the postgame handshakes, took off like a 100-metre sprinter and launched himself into a feet-first slide along the slick, muddy field at St. Mary’s High School. He repeated his celebration seconds later, this time sliding headfirst along the waterlogged grass.
“This is great football weather and it’s my final high school game on grass, so why not,” said Schneider. “We played a great game and now there’s one more to play.”
Indeed, there is.
The Celtics advanced to their third consecutive District 8 senior football final with a 16-7 win against the St. Mary’s Eagles. St. David, which won the title in 2016 and lost to the St. Benedict Saints last year, will face the Resurrection Phoenix in Thursday’s
7 p.m. final at Warrior Field.
Thursday’s game was contested under a steady downpour and difficult field conditions were a factor for both teams, especially on offence. Quarterbacks and receivers had to deal with greasy footballs, running backs struggled to make cuts and linemen had a hard time with their with footing.
St. Mary’s took advantage of an early St. David fumble to strike first. The Eagles started their first drive at the Celtics’ 33-yard line and scored three plays later when quarterback Andrew Brush rumbled in from 20 yards out.
Sam Publicover narrowed the gap to 7-3 with a 17-yard field goal and, still in the first quarter, the Celtics went ahead when Schneider took a hand-off from quarterback Sam Hepditch and scored from five yards out. Celtics receiver Nolan Beddoe made a great catch to set up what turned out to be the game-winning score.
The Celtics extended their lead near the start of the third quarter when Ty Griffith scored a five-yard rushing TD.
“To be honest, they just played a better game than we did,” Eagles quarterback Andrew Brush said. “The conditions made it hard to get going on offence but it was the same for them.”
Brush didn’t hesitate when asked to pick a winner in the District 8 final. “St. David,” he said, “I think they can pull it off.”
Schneider offered a similar take, before making a slight retreat.
“Were going to win,” he said, “we’re going to try.”
The Celtics and Phoenix met twice during the regular season. St. David won 18-14 on Oct. 13 and the teams played to a 10-10 tie just 11 days later.
Four still standing in WCSSAA
Meanwhile, the semifinal round of the Waterloo County (WCSSAA) senior boys football league is scheduled for Monday at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School. The doubleheader kicks off at 5 p.m. with a game between the Jacob Hespeler Hawks and Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders, followed by a 7 p.m. tilt between the Waterloo Vikings and Elmira Lancers.
Those four teams punched their tickets with quarter-final wins Wednesday night: Jacob Hespeler 68, Waterloo-Oxford 0; WCI 18, KCI 6; SJAM 28, Grand River 0; and Elmira 16, Bluevale 0.
The WCSSAA final is Saturday, Nov. 10.