Senior Boys Football
Knights advance to city championship after downing Sir Wil 41-0
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

St. Peter Knights running back Isaiah Harris high steps it into the Sir Wlfrid Laurier secondary during third quarter action on Thursday. Fred Sherwin/Photo

The St. Peter Knights are heading back to the NCSSAA senior boys football championship after downing the SIr Wilfrid Laurier Lancers 41-0 in their semi-final match-up on Thursday.

The Knights scored early and scored often in building a 28-0 half-time lead. After returning the opening kick to midfield, St. Pete's took just three plays to score the opening touchdown on a 44-yard run by Demitri Delakos.

The Lancers responded with an impressive drive of their own, marching the ball down to the Knights's 30 yard line before they were forced to punt.

The Kniights went up 14-0 on their second series of the game when Ryan Begin connected with a wide open Harrison Lowe for a 74-yard pass and run play.

St. Peter's third major score came on a one yard run by Isaiah Harries that capped a 10-play, 67-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes in the second quarter. The drive was kept alive thanks to a four yard run by Nick Lecour on third and three inside the 10-yard line.

The Knights would score again before the end of a half on a 22-yard screen pass from Begin to Delakos after St. Pete's had returned a punt to the Lancers' 24-yard line.

As effective as the Knights offense was in racking up 242 total yards in the first half, the defense was equally impressive, limiting the Lancers to ljust 60 yards. A big part of the their success on defence was in getting pressure on Lancers quarterback Dustin McMahon who they dropped for a loss five times. Jamar King had three sacks, while Dan Fair and Kevin Fox had one each.

The Knights went up 31-0 late in the third quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Begin. They would add 10 more points in the fourth on a 31-yard fieild goal by Begin and a 54-yard touchdown pass from Alex Skinner to Christian Eanga-Selenga.

Demitri Dalekos ended the game with 100 yards rushing on eight carries and he hauled in four passes for another 57 yards.

It was an impressive win even by St. Peter standards, considering they were coming off a first round bye. The St. Mark Lions had a bye last week as well and the time off showed as they had to rally from a 15-9 third quarter deficit to beat the Ashbury Colts 16-15 in Thursday's other semi-final.

The Knights and the Lions haven't met in the city championship since 2005 when St. Peter downed St. Mark's 17-9. The Lions have played in nine of the last 10 city championships, while the Knights have won the title six times since 1997 and will be playing for their second city championship in a row.

Knights head coach Jim Mick says his team should have no problem focusing on the task at hand next week even though a number of the second year players, including Alex Skinner, are chomping at the bit to get another shot at Frontenac Secondary School which prevented them from playing in an OFSAA bowl game last year.

"Obviously we'd love to get another shot at those guys," said Skinner, who rejoined the team four weeks ago after a brief stint with a Florida prep school. "It's good to be back for the team. The offence is pretty much the same as it was last year, so the transition has been fairly easy. Probably the biggest difference is the weather."

The Tier 1 city championship will be played at Minto Field behind the Nepean Sportsplex next Thusday. The opening kickoff is tentatively scheduled for
7 p.m.

(Posted 8:30 a.m., Nov. 6)

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