Lions go down to defeat
The tears on Shaied Sarpey-Birch’s face say it all as the North Shore bantam Lions were eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday
For the first time in five years, the John Abbott Islanders are headed to the CEGEP football playoffs.
The Isles (3-6) secured the seventh and final playoff spot with a dramatic 34-32 win over the Collège Beauce-Appalaches Condors on Saturday night at Memorial Field in Ste-Anne-deBellevue.
Next Saturday, the Isles will play their first playoff game when they travel to Quebec City to play Collège Limoilou.
The Isles erased an 18-7 lead by the Condors by scoring 27 points in the final quarter.
Isles quarterback Mario Porreca sealed the comeback when he connected with Richard Rafter on a fiveyard TD strike with 10 seconds to play.
Porreca completed 15 of 30 passes for 183 yards.
Zac Alexis put the Isles on the scoreboard in the first quarter when he returned a punt 105 yards for the opening TD.
Quaid Johnson scored on a oneyard run and Rafter led all receivers with six catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Mathieu Brunet started the JAC comeback at the 12:17 mark of the fourth quarter on a 65-yard pass-andrun play.
The Isles defence forced several turnovers. Zac Alexis and Mike Carter registered interceptions, while Russell Prevost recovered a fumble.
Frank Frino also shone on defence with nine tackles. In midget, the Lakeshore Cougars’ undefeated season came to an end on Sunday with a 27-7 playoff loss to the Warriors in LaSalle.
Matt Laporta scored the Cougars’ only touchdown.
Defensively, Jack Ferguson had a couple of fumble recoveries.
Lakeshore head coach Iain Sim said Ferguson and the Cougars defensive unit were solid.
“Jack played a strong game, as did the rest of the defence.”
In bantam, the first-place North Shore Lions fell 41-28 to Sun Youth in a playoff quarter-final played Saturday at Riverdale Park in Pierrefonds.
The Lions placed first in the Bill Allan Division standings with an 8-2 record. Elsewhere, the Lakeshore bantam Cougars (7-3) defeated the Laval Cobras 26-20 on Saturday at Parc Bénévoles in Kirkland.
In midget playoffs, the North Shore Mustangs defeated Boucherville 3021, while St-Laurent lost 21-20 to Sun Youth, Lakeshore fell 27-7 to LaSalle.