Knights comeback falls short

The St. Mary’s Knights battled back, but just couldn’t get over the hump.

After falling behind 21-3 at halftime to the Westgate Tigers from Thunder Bay, the Knights scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns but couldn’t complete the comeback. The Knights dropped a 21-16 decision at the hands of the Tigers in the Northern Bowl, held earlier today at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

A win would have marked the Knights fourth Bowl Series win in six seasons after winning the Northern Bowl last year over Westgate 52-10. The Knights won Central Bowl titles in 2002 and 2003 as well.

A rushing touchdown by Mike Drabitt and a touchdown reception by Jordan Popowich gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead after one quarter. The Tigers added to their lead in the second quarter as Drabitt caught a pass for a touchdown. A Ricky Lamon field goal prior to the half sent the game into the third quarter with Westgate leading 21-3.

A scoreless third quarter led to the Knights having a steep hill to climb heading into the fourth. A touchdown run by Craig Rushon cut the lead to 21-10. A late touchdown by Anthony Marasco cut the lead even further, but the Knights could not complete their comeback.

The Knights finished the game with just 110 yards of total offense. Rushon led the Knights running game with 72 yards on 16 carries. Rushon, Lamon, and Mike Doan shared the bulk of the passing yardage. Doan caught a pair of passes for 24 yards; Lamon caught two passes for 19 yards while Rushon also caught a pair of passes for 17 yards. Quarterback Michael Esson completed six passes for 72 yards and threw for an interception.

Drabitt finished the day with 116 yards rushing and a touchdown on 20 carries. Drabitt also caught a 20-yard touchdown pass for his only reception of the game. Popowich finished the day with 47 yards receiving and a touchdown on four catches.

The game was the third OFSSA Bowl Series game played as yesterday St. Thomas More of Hamilton defeated Bishop Ryan also of Hamilton, 14-7 in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl. In the other Bowl game yesterday Frontenac Secondary School of Kingston defeated Crestwood Secondary School of Peterborough 15-10.

Other Bowl games to be held today include Windsor’s Holy Names against London’s Mother Theresa in the Western Bowl, which kicked off shortly after noon today. St. Michael’s College of Toronto and Huron Heights Secondary School of Newmarket are set to cap off the day with the Metro Bowl at 3 p.m.