THUNDER BAY – The St. Ignatius Falcons steamrolled the competition all season long.
It came as little surprise that they continued the trend in Sunday’s Superior Secondary Schools Athletic Association junior football semifinal.
The Falcons, the defending junior champions, put points on the board on each of their first four possessions and rolled to a 45-7 win over the Westgate Tigers, making them the prohibitive favourites heading into next Saturday’s final against the St. Patrick Saints.
Carson Height hauled in touchdown receptions of 42 yards and 22 yards from quarterback Justin Coulombe and Rodrigo Cosio had a pair of rushing touchdowns to lead the Falcons to the one-sided win, the team playing its non-starters in the second half.
Hudson Van Dyk had the lone score for the Tigers, a 78-yard scamper down the Fort William Stadium sideline that cut the Falcons lead to 38-7 at the time.
“It’s been our goal all season to get to the final,” Coulombe said.
“Our O-line was great today. I have to shout them out. Of course, our backfield, (Kai) Mosely, Height and even Rodrigo, they all played great today.”
Coulombe said Height just knows how to get open.
“He’s the fastest kid in the league. I’ve just got to throw it up there and he’s somewhere down the field, basically,” Coulombe said.
“Carson’s somewhere down there.”
It was all Mosely on the Falcons first drive of the day. He got the call on the opening play and took it 49 yards to the Tigers 23. Three plays later he rumbled seven yards to the endzone and St. Ignatius had a 7-0 advantage.
The Tigers went three-and-out and the Falcons took over on the Westgate 26.
They didn’t find the goal line, but kicker Daniel Voca kicked a 29-yard field goal – he’d also go a perfect 6-for-6 on extra-point attempts – and the lead ballooned to 10-0.
Coulombe and the Falcons needed just one play to score their second major of the afternoon, Coulombe lofting it up for Height who took it 42 yards for his first touchdown of the game.
The Falcons held again and got the ball back at midfield.
Coulombe and Matteo Prysucha connected on passing plays of 26 and 18 yards and Mosley carried it to the Westgate one, where Rodrigo took it up the middle through traffic for a 24-0 lead Falcons lead.
Sensing they were in trouble, the Tigers went for it on a third-and-one, but quarterback Graham Deans pass to Matthew Smelow resulted in no gain, and the Falcons got the ball back on the Westgate 31. One play later Rodrigo was in the end zone again and the Falcons led 31-0. Coulombe and Height hooked up for their second touchdown of the day before the half came to a close and it was academic at that point.
The preparation paid off, Height said.
“We worked really hard at practice and came through. We got some great plays, a bunch of beautiful passes from our quarterback and that’s how we did it,” he said, adding he didn’t have much to worry about with Coulombe throwing the ball.
The first touchdown was as easy as they come, he said.
“It was a gorgeous pass from Justin Coulombe, just right in the pocket. It feels great, but we’ve got to get back to work and continue working hard for next week.”
The Falcons and Saints will kick off on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Fort William Stadium.
