St. Paul’s rolling right along

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This article was published 24/10/2014 (4132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Big numbers lit up the scoreboard behind St. Paul’s High School on Thursday night, documenting two handy Crusaders victories in quarter-final games.

That’s no surprise, not really. The school’s two varsity squads — defending champions both — have been unbeaten, often dominant, all season.

So on Thursday, when they spread out on Connolly Field on a crisp and beautiful night for October football, the games played out mostly as expected. First up, the AA Kas Vidruk Division squad dispatched the Kildonan East Reivers 42-7.

The AAA team followed that with their own decisive victory, a 48-0 shutout of the eighth-seeded Sturgeon Heights Huskies.

It was the first time the latter two teams faced each other this year. “We worked on chemistry a lot this week, and I guess it really showed today,” said AAA Crusaders starting pivot Drake Lesperance, who was a backup last season. “Our strong defence, you could really see it out there.”

The AA team had a bit more of a battle. They got a big game from running back Lahai Amara, who popped off several electrifying first-half runs and rushed into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game; meanwhile, half of their scoring came off defensive back and kicker Shae Weekes, who booted in three field goals and returned one late-game interception for a major. The Reivers hung tough and pushed back in the second half, but the game was already out of reach.

Even though his team won big, Crusaders AA head coach Peter Pura cautioned the score didn’t tell the tale.

“There’s a lot of work that we need to do,” the head coach said. “Every game’s a tough game in this division. So we just have to work harder than we did today. Kildonan East did a great job today.”

So both varsity Crusaders teams move on to their division semifinals, where the AA team will await the winner of today’s battle between Churchill and Kelvin, and the John Potter Division squad, which was recently ranked ninth in the country, will face either Dakota or Grant Park.

What a season for the Crusaders, though, as the program’s legacy grows.

Both varsity teams rolled 7-0 through the WHSFL’s regular season, outscoring their opposition by wide margins.

The AA squad put up 232 points in the season, while their opponents managed just 33 against them; the AAA team outscored their opponents 252-33. Four of the top squad’s games were shutouts, though they just eked out a narrow 22-19 win over the Oak Park Raiders earlier this month.

On that note, even though the numbers look so tilted, Lesperance said he feels like this season has tested the AAA Crusaders more than last. They know the Raiders are dying to take another crack at them, for instance. Back on Sept. 20, Dakota Lancers DL Derek Dufault ravaged the Crusaders for six sacks, setting a league record. St. Paul’s still won that game 24-7, but Lesperance remembers.

“He’s a great athlete,” the pivot said. “Something to be scared of. But I’ve got a lot of trust in my O-line. We have one of the best O-line groups in the league. I think they can handle him, and I can work on getting the ball out a little quicker… This year is a challenging year. There’s a lot more competition this year. Vincent Massey, Oak Park and Dakota, there’s four stronger teams compared to one or two in previous years.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca