BUNDLED UP FOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FINAL
L’Essor outruns Belle River to capture 2nd straight AA title
Every team knows the L’Essor Aigles are going to run the ball. It’s being able to stop them that has proven tough for opponents.
L’Essor rushed for more than 500 yards Thursday as the Aigles claimed their second-straight WECSSAA AA football title with a 42-7 win over the Belle River Nobles at Alumni Field.
“They have everybody involved and it’s hard to figure out who has the ball,” Nobles linebacker and running back Austin Kime said. “It’s a smart (team).”
Belle River’s defence held the Aigles to a pair of two-and-out series to start the game, but the Nobles had troubles moving the ball on offence as well.
By the third series, L’Essor quarterback Daniel Thrasher saw an opening.
“The first five minutes it was just punting back and forth and we couldn’t seem to get anything going, but then we found a play and it got us going,” the 17-yearold Thrasher said. “I told my coach that the fake was wide open for me.” Thrasher’s 39-yard run set up Kikonde Mwondha’s seven-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
From there, the Aigles’ offence started to roll. Danny Byrne scored on a 17-yard run and Thrasher, after a fumble recovery by Ahl Djinko, raced in from 31 yards to put L’Essor up 21-0.
“Sometimes we start games pretty slow, but we get the hang of it and keep rolling,” the 17-year-old Djinko said. “Once we got it going, we kept rolling.”
Belle River finally got on the board with 87 seconds left in the half on a Kyle Byrne three-yard touchdown run, but Thrasher drove the Aigles 84 yards in 74 seconds and scored on a twoyard run to restore his team’s 21-point lead at the half.
“We use a lot of misdirection and you never know who has the ball,” said the 17-year-old Thrasher, who rushed for 138 yards on 10 carries.
Belle River moved the ball in the second half, but a pair of fumbles halted drives and allowed the Aigles to take advantage of a short field. “We just had to hold on to the ball more,” said the 17-yearold Kime, who accounted for 136 yards of Belle River’s 178 yards in total offence on 15 carries.
Djinko scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. Aside from his fumble recovery, Djinko also added five converts and ran in a two-point convert.
“I’ve got to bring a full effort and that’s what I do,” Djinko said.
L’Essor finished the game with 532 yards rushing and Byrne, who ran for 176 yards on 15 carries, capped the scoring with 17-yard touchdown run.
“Last year meant a lot because it was our first AA championship, but this year we made history by doing back-to-back and that’s great for our school,” Thrasher said.
HOLY NAMES KNIGHTS 28 HERMAN GREEN GRIFFINS 7
In the AAA final at Alumni Field, the Holy Names Knights ended a nine-year title run by the Herman Green Griffins with a 28-7 win.
Knights quarterback Jake Hayden threw a pair of touchdowns. He hit Nick Brajkovic for a 62-yard touchdown and Justin Pope with a 29-yard scoring pass.
Pope also added a 24-yard touchdown run, while Mike Herzog capped the scoring with a 70-yard touchdown run.