THUNDER BAY – Tyler Rose is a budding track star and he put his speed to good use on Friday night.
The undefeated Westgate Tigers, pinned on their own eight-yard-line and clinging to a 14-7 lead over the St. Patrick Saints, gave the ball to Rose late in the second quarter, looking for a little breathing room.
Rose kicked it into high gear and burst up the middle.
He didn’t stop until he had six points in the bag for the Tigers, taking the ball 102 yards for the remarkable touchdown and a two-score lead that the Saints were unable to overcome – unlike a week earlier when they scored twice in the final four minutes to upset the Hammarskjold Vikings.
“I trusted my blockers. They all blocked great. I had a huge window and I just ran my hardest. And you know what, it worked out in the end and I’m really happy about it. I don’t think I’ve ever gone that far. That’s far,” Rose said.
Rose finished the game with three carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and hauled in four passes from quarterback Mitchell Papineau for another 105 yards through the air.
Not surprisingly, it was Papineau and Rose who set up the first Westgate store, Rose snagging the veteran QB’s first throw of the day, the 62-yard catch-and-run landing the ball on the St. Patrick one-yard-line.
Lance Basalyga took over from there, barreling up the middle for the one-yard score.
The Saints would get back on even ground before the first quarter came to a close, starting on the Westgate 41-yard line, thanks to a no yards penalty assessed to the Tigers, despite punter Cole McVety appearing to recover his own kick that had it stood, would have kept the Westgate drive alive.
Weston Kayes did much of the heavy lifting, opening the Saints march down the field with a pair of double-digit runs.
Then, after quarterback Boston Bortolin got the Saints to the Westgate five, only to have the drive stall with minimal gains, the Saints turned to their bag of tricks, snapping the ball to Peyton Wilson, who lofted a high pass into the end zone, where a waiting Nicolas Lento leapt high and held on, evening the game at 7-7.
Papineau, who finished 12-for-21 for 225 yards on the day, made his second 50-plus yard connection midway through the second, finding Cole McVety with a pinpoint pass that his receiver took all the way to the house, the Tigers going up 14-7.
Papineau was picked off by St. Patrick’s Carson Auger on Westgate’s next possession, but the Saints went two-and-out, setting the stage for Rose’s touchdown run.
Two plays into the fourth, Rose scored his second major of the contest, a three-yard run on a dish from Papineau, upping their lead to 28-8. They’d add a 25-yard McVety field goal early in the fourth to jump in front by 23.
The 4-0-0 Tigers have now outscored their opponents 115-32 this season and are entrenched atop the senior high school football standings.
“Our team is building up in practice to get better and improve every day,” Papineau said. “We’re hoping to keep the momentum going and keep winning.”
St. Ignatius 43, Hammarskjold 7: Lucas Dupuis scored on runs of 33, 52, 29 and one yards to lead the Falcons to the lopsided win.
