Football champs Bytown bound
Saint Paul advances to Golden Horseshoe Bowl in Ottawa with home-field win
The Saint Paul Patriots are bound for Bytown.
And the senior football team from the Niagara Falls high school hopes to scratch a sevenyear streak at the Golden Horseshoe Bowl next week in Ottawa.
Last time the Patriots advanced to the provincial championships was 2011, when they beat Orchard Park in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) qualifier before losing to Burlington Nelson in the title game.
This time they punched their ticket with a 36-23 victory over Hamilton Westmount in the SOSSA final Tuesday at Mitchelson Park in Niagara Falls.
Saint Paul head coach Rick Oreskovich was impressed with his team’s play on defence, at least “for the first three quarters and a half.”
Westmount outscored the Patriots 20-1 in the final period after facing a 35-3 deficit.
“I wasn’t happy with the way the game ended, but I think we let up a little bit,” Oreskovich said. “They got some momentum, our guys were on our heels a bit, we were a little cold.”
That said, Oreskovich gave credit to the previously undefeated Wildcats.
“They never gave up, they played the whole game.”
In his post-game comments,
the veteran coach made a point of congratulating his players. He said the team started coming together after a Week 2 loss to the Denis Morris Reds that dropped the Patriots to 0-2.
“I would like to congratulate our team, our players who came back from a situation earlier in the year and haven’t lost since,” Oreskovich said.
“They’re great game players as well, and they play hard.”
Assistant coaches likewise were praised after Saint Paul won its seven straight and third in a row in the playoffs. With the win, the Patriots advance to play Mississauga Lorne Park in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl 10 a.m. Tuesday in Ottawa.
Saint Paul lost an exhibition game to Lorne Park to kick off the 2018 season.
“So we’ll be playing them again,” Oreskovich said. “They’re a good team, they’re one of the top teams.”
Wildcats head coach Tom Pain was matter-of-fact in his assessment of his team’s play in the opening half of the SOSSA championship. “We really stunk the joint out in the first half,” he said.
“But they were very good. They were crisp, they executed, they did what they wanted to do. They’re a well-coached team, their best guys are big and strong.”
Westmount started wearing down the Patriots in the second half.
“They play a lot of guys two ways, so we wore them down a bit and I think it showed in the second half.”
Carlos Calderon-Barahora, with oneand four-yard runs; Riley Sexton, 20-yard touchdown pass from Devon SchillerCleveland; Patrick Griffi, with a threeyard run; Pappin, with a one-yard plunge; Nicholas Abbruscato, five converts, single; scored for Saint Paul.Nate Bullock, had two- and 90-yard runs; Kyle Nalepa, a fouryard run; scored TDs for Westmount.