THUNDER BAY – Never count out Boston Bortolin and the St. Patrick Fighting Saints.
With four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, his team was down 14-2 to the Hammarskjold Vikings and struggling to move the ball.
Then, on a drive kept a live by a successful fake punt, Koen Horne scrambling for just enough yards to secure a game-saving first down, Bortolin started hitting his targets.
A 40-yard strike to Thomas Hardie gave the Saints the ball on the Hammarskjold 15-yard line.
Two plays later Bortolin heaved the ball toward the end zone, where a waiting Jude Hockenhull was waiting to haul it in, the touchdown the first in three games for a Saints team that entered play on Friday at Fort William Stadium with an 0-2 record.
St Patrick’s defence forced a three-and-out by the Vikings, taking the ball over on their own 45.
Bortolin, surging on the thrill of his previous scoring pass, heaved the ball a little to high and a little too deep, straight into the waiting hands of Hammarskjold defensive back Leyton Reid, the interception an apparent dagger in the St. Patrick comeback bid.
Not so fast.
The D came up big again in the final minute, forcing the Vikings to punt the ball away. Only it didn’t work out that way.
The Saints Adam MacCormack burst up the middle, and with the help of Brody Lovis, smothered the kick, giving the Saints the ball on the Hammarskjold 27-yard line. Bortolin took the snap and threw up another prayer.
Hockenhull, like he was minutes earlier, was there to haul it in for the game-winning touchdown, an unlikely triumph for a St. Patrick team that appeared moments earlier to be headed for an 0-3 start.
“Don’t give up, man. We’re never out,” Bortolin said. “We’ve always been doubted. Some of these guys have never won a game.”
It was simply a matter of believing in themselves.
“We all trust each other and play our game.”
Hockenhull, mauled by his teammates after the game-winning catch, said he didn’t think anyone watching the game thought the Saints had a chance.
But they never gave up.
That’s what mattered most.
“My quarterback, Boston Bortolin threw me the ball twice, perfect passes. We got the victory done,” Hockenhull said.
The stunned Vikings, who remain winless at 0-3-0, couldn’t do anything but watch the lead disappear in the dying seconds of the contest, a disappointing finish in what had been 44 minutes of solid, if unspectacular football.
Pinned deep on their first possession, they opted to cede two points and a safety, a move that paid off when they forced St. Pat’s to punt on their ensuing possession.
A no-yards penalty assessed to the Saints on that kick gave Hammarskjold the ball on their own 50 and three plays later Daniel Kapush rumbled up the middle 49 yards to the St. Patrick end zone, giving the Vikings a 7-2 lead.
Two plays into the second half Gerald Marshall intercepted a Bortolin pass at midfield and raced to the goal line, Hammarskjold taking a 14-2 lead that stood throughout the third and deep into the fourth.
Bortolin finished 6-for-14 for 80 yards and two touchdowns. Kapush had 125 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings.
Westgate 24, St. Ignatius 17: Lance Basalyga scored a pair of second-half touchdowns, the first on a two-yard run, the second on a 17-yard punt return, to help the Tigers (3-0) stay undefeated atop the senior standings. Lucas Dupuis and Kai Mosley had first-quarter touchdowns for the Falcons (2-1), who led 17-0 midway through the second quarter.
