Colts spoil return to senior football for Wolverines

The opening week of the high school football season is in the books.

A fast start helped the Korah Colts gallop to a season-opening win over the White Pines Wolverines on Sunday at Superior Heights.

The Colts opened up a 23-0 lead through one quarter en route to a 30-14 win.

“Our defence really played downhill and brought some big hits early in the game and we established our run game early,” Annett said. "That quick start always makes things a lot easier for sure.”

Annett credited the Wolverines for making some adjustments and not making life easy for the Colts in the latter stages of the game.

“That’s a good team,” Annett said. “They’ve got some excellent grade elevens and grade twelves that are really good. They’re going to be a problem as the season progresses and they improve.”

Annett added that the game was also an opportunity to get some depth players some action.

“We’ve got a large roster, quite a few guys without experience,” Annett said. "They got an opportunity to get some game experience, which is definitely going to help build some depth.”

For the Wolverines, the game was the first at the senior level for White Pines since 2018 and it was a game the team will look to learn from and build on.

“They’re third in Ontario for a reason,” coach Will Basawa said. “We’ve got a lot to work with this week in the film room.”

Basawa credited his team for settling in offensively after a tough start.

“Keenan Boissoneau did an awesome job running the rock today,” Basawa said. “Later we had Arthur Vincent rumbling, bumbling, and stumbling his way down the field. A lot of it was just nerves. A lot of these boys haven’t played at the senior level before and weren’t sure what to expect.”

Basawa added that it’s “important for the boys to learn that commitment to what it takes to get through an entire football game (and) to know you can’t start slow or that’s the corresponding result.”

Korah opened the scoring 87 seconds into the game as Arwin Shafiee ran the ball in from 25 yards out on the Colts opening drive of the season. The convert by Ty Koski made it 7-0.

The Colts proceeded to extend the lead when Nathan Guizzetti punched the ball in from seven yards out later in the quarter. Koski’s convert made the score 14-0 Korah.

Cole Barbeau added a nine-yard touchdown run later in the opening quarter. With the convert by Koski, the Colts lead moved to 21-0.

A safety in the final stages of the first quarter gave Korah a 23-0 lead.

White Pines got on the board in the second quarter when Keenan Boissoneau ran the ball in from 11 yards out. The convert on the play from Linden Devries made it a 23-7 game.

In the final minute of the half, Korah restored the three-score lead when Ty Beaupre ran the ball in from 10 yards out. The subsequent convert by Koski made it 30-7 Korah going into the half.

After the teams played through a scoreless third quarter, White Pines cut into the Korah lead when Garrin Pine ran the ball in from six yards out. The convert by Ethan McCorkell made it 30-14 Korah.

Guizzetti had 41 yards rushing on a pair of carries for Korah while Beaupre had 42 on five carries and Shafiee had 36, also on five carries.

Gage Devoe had five tackles defensively for Korah.

Boissoneau finished the day with 67 yards rushing on 14 carries while Arthur Vincent had four tackles defensively for the Wolverines.

In Sunday’s junior game, Korah opened up a 28-14 lead by halftime en route to a 49-14 win over White Pines.

Korah opened the scoring as Peyton Melchiorre ran the ball in from 16 yards out to give Korah the lead. The convert from AJ Coccimiglio made it 7-0 Colts.

The Colts picked up a pair of majors in the second quarter to extend the lead.

Melchiorre scored on a 42-yard run with the convert from Coccimiglio to make it 14-0 before Brodie Belair returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown. The additional convert by Coccimiglio made it 21-0 Colts.

Gevin Grisdale then caught a 19-yard pass from quarterback Zane Murdoch for another Colts touchdown. The convert by Coccimiglio extended the Korah lead to 28-0.

White Pines got on the board late in the half when Adam Hussein ran the ball in from 60 yards out to make it a 28-6 game heading to the half.

The Wolverines pulled closer late in the half when Dreyon Boissoneau caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Markeese Strawbridge and then added a two-point convert to make it 28-14 Korah heading into the half.

Korah came out and scored on their first possession of the third quarter as Koen Manchulenko ran the ball in from 11 yards out. The convert by Coccimiglio made it 35-14.

Korah took a 42-14 lead midway through the third quarter when Max Fuselli intercepted a pass and ran it in from 20 yards out. Coccimiglio then tacked on the extra point.

Korah pulled ahead by a 49-14 margin after Cam Williamson scampered in from 12 yards out and Coccimiglio added the extra point.

Melchiorre finished the day with 86 yards rushing on seven carries while Williamson had 41 yards rushing on five carries.

In addition to a third-quarter touchdown, Manchulenko had four tackles defensively for Korah.

Rushing the ball, Hussein had 88 yards on six carries while Boissoneau had 41 yards receiving on a pair of catches for the Wolverines.

Benjamin Potter had 4.5 tackles and Jacob Day added four for White Pines.

Korah returns to action on Thursday with games against St. Mary’s while White Pines is back on the field on Friday night when they face Superior Heights.

All four games are at Superior Heights with the junior games beginning at 4:45 p.m. and the senior games following with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.