Upstart Pirates shock Crusaders

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This article was published 03/11/2023 (929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a death by a thousand cuts.

The Grant Park Pirates chewed up clock and methodically moved down the field all night, eking out just enough points to down the vaunted St. Paul’s Crusaders 24-21 in the Winnipeg High School Football League’s AAAA ANAVETS Conference semi-final at IG Field on Friday.

The Pirates will face the Dakota Lancers in the Anavets Bowl at IG Field on Nov. 10 (6 p.m.) after they beat the Oak Park Raiders 24-23 in overtime in the other semi-final.

Grant Park returns to a Bowl game for the first time since 2021 when they captured the AA crown.

“It might be one of the biggest wins this program has had,” said versatile Pirates weapon Jesse Deneka. “We were 21.5-point underdogs, no one thought we were going to win this, people thought we were going to get blown out because we got blown out a few games ago by a team they beat. We proved them wrong, we’re a good team, we’re ready.”

Running back Deneka shined the brightest of all on this night, carrying a massive workload and finding the end zone three times while making several pivotal plays on defence, including diving on a botched handoff early in the third quarter that set up his own touchdown run.

“That wasn’t the plan actually (to get the ball on offence). I got hurt earlier in the week so wasn’t expected to play that much running back but going into the game I felt good, I was ready, but I didn’t expect to get this much of a workload. It was awesome.”

While the Pirates gained more than 10 yards on a play just once in the game, they maintained long drives, keeping the potent Crusaders offence on the sidelines for much of the first half. The reigning provincial champion Crusaders led the province in points scored — averaging more 45 points per outing — while conceding just 37 total points this season.

“I think it’s important that we’re taking the next step as our program,” said Pirates head coach Doug Kovacs. “St. Paul’s is the gold standard and we need to get to our level and I think we’ve come close now to their level — that’s the second time we’ve beat them in three years so I’m pretty happy with that.

“I just thought we did some good things and knocked people down on both sides of the ball all night. We got a great quarterback (Scott Sisson) and he takes what he’s supposed to and St. Paul’s is good, they’re not going to give you anything, so if it’s gotta be a death by a thousand cuts then that’s the way we have to play it.”

The Pirates made a statement on the opening drive, running 12 plays and nearly seven minutes off the clock, punctuating the series with Denka’s one-yard plunge into the end zone. Another hard-nosed Deneka touchdown run from five yards out increased the lead to 13 late in the second half.

The Crusaders’ offence ignited in the fading moments of the opening half with a 70-yard drive that ended with a six-yard rushing major by quarterback Cole Anseeuw.

Though they trailed the entire game, the Crusaders were always within striking distance and delivered their share of body blows to test the resilience of the young Pirates squad.

The inexperienced team answered the call every time, though.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, with the Pirates up 21-8, Crusaders wide receiver Johnny Vagianos provided another spark by scoring on a 20-yard screen to cut the deficit to six points.

After the Pirates made good on a muffed punt by the Crusaders with a field goal, a late momentum shift saw St. Paul’s draw within three points with the ball on the Pirates’ side of the field before defensive end Carson Thomas intercepted Anseeuw, which all but ended the game.

“That’s what I told them championship football was about, was the next play not the past play,” Kovacs said. “These are young guys. This team went 0-7 under the previous junior varsity head coach and we’ve just been building confidence in the weight room with them and it culminated tonight.”

Earlier in the day, Crocus Plains captured the Gustafson Bowl (17-20 seeds) with a 34-0 triumph over River East.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

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