Crusaders triumphant

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This article was published 13/11/2009 (5954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Three new champions emerged on a positively balmy night for football on Friday in the Winnipeg High School Football League’s championship showcase at Canad Inns Stadium.

St. Paul’s AAA Crusaders, St. Paul’s AA Crusaders and West Kildonan Wolverines emerged with championship titles in their respective divisions as the 30-team league concluded the 2009 season.

It was the first time both St. Paul’s teams had earned berths in their championship finals in the same year and the first time both took home titles.

The AAA Crusaders won the ANAVETS Bowl game in the Potter division, defeating Oak Park Raiders 52-49 in a game that had many observers comment it was among the best ever.

With 1:01 left in the game, St. Paul’s grade 10 quarterback Theo Deezar scored on a one-yard keeper to lift his team to a come-from-behind victory.

Before that, the game was a shootout with running back Nic Demski scoring six touchdowns for the Raiders and Bryden Bone adding one.

St. Paul’s got touchdowns from Terrell Okotcha, Christian Hansen, Rhys Hansen, two from Sean Morantz, two from Deezar and a 32-yard field goal from Christian Hansen.

Free Press Bowl (Vidruk AA)
St. Paul’s AA Crusaders 32
Grant Park Pirates 2
The teams came in closely matched but St. Paul’s ran away with this game early to win just the second championship for St. Paul’s AA team. The St. Paul’s AA team won its first championship in 2004.
St. Paul’s started veteran quarterback Justin Daman but threw in a twist early in the first quarter, putting in grade 10 quarterback Connor Lesperance who ran rampant and was named the game’s most valuable player.

“All year long, we played with two quarterbacks. Justin’s got great leadership and Connor’s a little more mobile, so we took the chance and put him in a little earlier than we wanted to and that seemed to turn the game around for us,” said St. Paul’s head coach Peter Pura, whose team included 32 rookies among its 45 members. “It gave us a few more options on offence which produced in the second quarter, definitely.”

Lesperance passed for two touchdowns (Matthew Hanks, 11 yards, Cole McDonald 16 yards, and then ran in an 18-yard touchdown himself.

“It’s just what happens, there wasn’t really a plan (to put him in early) but it’s good,” said Lesperance, a grade 10 player.

The Crusaders, who led 29-0 at the half, started things off about a minute into the game with Jesse Pollock scoring on a 31-yard punt return TD. The game went into running time (once a lead of 30 points or more is reached) with 2:12 left in the third quarter after a field goal by kicker Alex Bukal put St. Paul’s ahead 32-0. A safety conceded by St. Paul’s were the only points for the Pirates.

Canad Inns Bowl (Currie A)
West Kildonan Wolverines 42
Kildonan East Reivers 16
West Kildonan remained undefeated with a 10-0 record and capped their perfect season with a championship in a dominant victory over Kildonan East. Wolverines quarterback Marques Tighe, the championship game MVP, engineered five touchdowns, rushing for two of them (20 yards, 17 yards), to lead his team to the first championship for West Kildonan. It is just the third year in the WHSFL for the Wolverines. Tighe also kicked a pair of field goals, two singles and four converts.

Wide receiver Kurt Goodrich, one of 10 players with the Wolverines since the team began in 2007, scored West Kildonan’s first touchdown on a 62-yard pass from Tighe. Third-year running back Blake Molinski, the Wolverines player of the game, scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns of 32 and 55 yards.

“It’s just an amazing feeling for the whole team, it just feels great,” Goodrich said. “It’s just going to boost the whole school’s spirit and I think it’s going to be great for all the young kids coming up. It means so much to all of us older guys too, to have been part of this program right from the start.”

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca