THUNDER BAY -- Winning one high school football title is an achievement in itself.
Try winning five in a row, like Bryce Covello and Josh Newransky accomplished on Tuesday night, leading the St. Ignatius Falcons to a third straight senior high school football championship with a 12-7 win over a pesky, underrated Westgate Tigers squad.
The duo captured two titles as junior Falcons, then three more as seniors.
Both played huge roles in their latest season-ending triumph, Covello connecting with Noah Penfold for a 36-yard scoring strike midway through the third quarter for the game-winning touchdown, Newransky picking off Tigers quarterback John Czupryna in the end zone late in the fourth, Westgate threatening to take the lead with 2:24 to go.
It’s hard to believe they could go five-for-five, said Covello, who finished with 127 yards passing and a touchdown on the game, originally scheduled for Saturday, but postponed due to weather.
“It’s a pretty unreal feeling,” Covello said. “I’ve got to give all the credit to our football program.
“Our year of the ’98 kids coming in really started a thing for this program, for this school. We came in, we brought the culture of football and every year after has picked it up.”
Newransky, who hobbled off the field with an ankle injury after making the interception, said it’s pretty unreal to hoist the trophy every single season of his high-school career.
“I can’t describe the feeling of winning five championships. It just doesn’t happen. I’d try to describe the feeling to you, but I couldn’t. Our team works hard every day and we grind all the time in hopes of winning. We prepared very heavily for this game.”
It's a contest that almost moved to Dryden, with the Fort William Stadium turf covered in snow and ice.
It might explain why the Falcons struggled offensively in the game’s opening minutes, stalled on their first drive. It was the Tigers who struck first, Cayden Boucher marching it in from 21 yards out for a 7-0 Westgate first-quarter lead.
The score jolted the Falcons offence back on track and they marched down the field, Jake Robertson punching it in from a yard out, clearing the cherry Kool-Aid goal line. But a botched snap left St. Ignatius a point shy of their cross-town rivals, down 7-6.
A little snow wasn't about to get St. Ignatius down, though it meant making adjustments to the game plan.
“The weather conditions were not favourable for our team. We’re more of a passing team.Westgate was running a lot of misdirection and obviously you can’t get a lot of grip on here. You’re slipping and sliding, but in the end we pulled it off,” Robertson said.
Down five, the Tigers attempted a fake punt late in the third, only to have Czupryna driven back eight yards and turned over the ball on downs.
After another three-and-out the Falcons took over and went for it on third down deep in their own territory, only to have Nic Cull come up short and the Tigers took over on the St. Ignatius 23.
After two straight plays for losses, Czyupryna converted a third-and-16, hitting Reid Stajkowski for a 21-yard gain. But facing third-and-goal from the eight, the Westgate quarterback’s pass was snagged by Newransky.
They’d get the ball back one more time, but were unable to move the ball after the Falcons sacked Czyupryna for a 12-yard loss on first down.
The Falcons advance to the Simcoe Bowl on Tuesday in Hamilton against Bear Creek.
