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SSSAA: Saints topple Vikings care of Foglia's 85-yard scoring run

Sebastien Foglia’s 85-yard scoring scamper down the sidelines was a difference maker Friday for the St. Patrick Saints.
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St. Patrick Saints back Liam Stewart (centre) is chased down Friday at Fort William Stadium by Hammarskjold's Andrew Flank and Daniel Mitasv. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

Sebastien Foglia’s 85-yard scoring scamper down the sidelines was a difference maker Friday for the St. Patrick Saints.

The running back, who thought he might run out of gas as the end zone neared, broke open a 6-6 game in the second quarter and paved the way for the Saints 17-6 junior varsity football season-opening win over the Hammarskjold Vikings.

“It felt good,” he said.

“At the end I was airplaning there, but it was good. At the beginning the handoff was good and I just went for a good run.”

Saints coach Dave Battistel said his young running back is blessed with great wheels.

It showed on the play, the longest from scrimmage in tight-knit contest.

“He broke a couple of tackles and that’s the speed that we were anticipating him to have. He made a great run.”

The Saints took an early 6-0 lead on a two-yard keeper by quarterback Josh Swearengen. But it only took the Vikings two minutes to climb back into the game when Marti Martinez threw a 74-yard scoring strike to William MacDonough to knot the score at 6-6.

Both sides missed the extra point.

Both defences held strong in the second half, neither side allowing another major.

That was the big difference in the final outcome, Battistel said.

“We had a couple of good drives there, we made a few mistakes along the way and we got it together and had a pretty solid second half of the game,” he said.

“The offence did a great job of controlling the ball and the defence stepped up when we needed them to. (Hammarskjold is) a fantastic team. They’ve got some great players on there and they ran some great plays on us, but the defence did their job.”

As did Xander Scriver, who picked off Martinez in the fourth near midfield, the Vikings looking to start a march toward the St. Patrick goal line, down a converted touchdown at the time.

Saints placekicker Nick Scarcello kicked a field-goal in the third quarter to push the St. Pat’s lead to 16-6. 

Notes: Former St. Patrick tight end Nigel Romick is a defensive lineman this season with the expansion Ottawa Redblacks. Romick, 23, was drafted 23rd overall by Ottawa and has three special teams tackles in 2014.

Westgate 26, Superior 6: Darien Fuchs scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Tigers to an easy win over the Gryphons. Sean O'Connor, on a one-yard dash, had the lone score for Superior Collegiate.

St. Ignatius 28, Churchill 1: NIck Cull scored a pair of rushi. ng majors as the Falcons cruised to an early win



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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