By Larry Moko
Quarterback Nick Jokic of the Cathedral Gaels threw for one touchdown and ran for another en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the 2024 Steel City Bowl.
But he also contributed in other ways Sunday that didn't show up on the stat sheet.
Jokic's blocking after handing the ball off to his running backs helped them gain yardage on at least a couple of occasions. Some quarterbacks want nothing to do with that kind of physical contact.
Jokic and his Hamilton Catholic teammates went on to a 33-0 victory over Hamilton Public in their annual high school all-star contest at McMaster's Ron Joyce Stadium.
"I know it gets the boys fired up," Jokic said of his aggressive blocking. "I was pretty fired up, too. Being able to do that as a quarterback shows I'm willing to get hit for them. I think it set the tone."
In the first half, both teams were solid defensively. The eight points that Hamilton Catholic scored resulted from a conceded safety touch along with a pair of field goals by Luca Horvat of the Bishop Ryan Celtics (from 20 and 14 yards).
On Hamilton Catholic's first possession of the third quarter, they drove down the field to the 1-yard line. From there, two carries by running backs were stopped short of the end zone before Jokic plunged ahead himself for a one-yard quarterback sneak touchdown.
"As long as I can remember I used to play quarterback and linebacker," Jokic said. "So I feel like I've always been a hard-hitting quarterback. My thing is smash-mouth football. So if I hand the ball off and get in front of someone, I just want to lay my shoulder down."
The lead was stretched to 25 points early in the fourth quarter when Jokic rolled out and tossed a 25-yard scoring strike to Rogan Monaghan of the St. Thomas More Knights.
"Nicky is a pretty talented player," Hamilton Catholic coach Anthony Tassone said. "He's a running back out there playing quarterback."
A 38-yard field goal by left-footed kicker Horvat made the score 25-0.
"Horvat was kicking the ball very well, both with the wind and against the wind,” coach Tassone of the three-time defending Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic champion Bishop Tonnos Titans said.
An interception return for a 15-yard touchdown by Giacomo Pugliese of Tonnos and a two-point conversion run by Ben Kingston of Bishop Ryan capped the scoring.
Said Tassone: "Our defensive line was awesome."
Jokic, in his final game of high school football eligibility, completed 12 of 16 passes for 117 yards.
"I'm happy that I went out the way I did," Jokic said. "I had a pretty good game and I was lucky enough to win the MVP award."
Hamilton Catholic piled up 285 yards of net offence compared to 41 for Public.
It's the third straight year Tassone has coached the Hamilton Catholic side to a win.
"This game (featuring all-stars) is a lot of fun," Tassone said. "You get to know a lot of the other coaches and players. It's enjoyable. It's a lot like a TESLA ... it handles itself."
Player of the Game selections were:
Lineman -- Darren Armstrong (Westmount) Liam Butler (Bishop Ryan).
Special Teams -- Ben De El (Sherwood) Luca Horvat (Bishop Ryan).
Defence -- Jackson Hayward (Saltfleet) Giacomo Pugliesi (Bishop Tonnos).
Offence -- Matthew Jurcic (Bishop Tonnos).
It was the 31st year for the Steel City Bowl -- the seventh under the direction of the Hamilton Football Association. It's believed to be the last football game played in Canada in 2024.
Team HWCDSB Catholic's roster was also comprised of: (BISHOP TONNOS) Adrian Tassone, Hudson Taylor, Joe Cafagna, Mark Yeudall, Simon Blake, Kaleb Horvat-Rankin, Jackson Brown, Collin Quan Soon, Logan Dobbie, Nick Miller; (BISHOP RYAN) Lucas Underhill, Adriano Infurnari, Nico DiFillipo, Jacob Grajales, Daelin Janeau, Liam Butler, Austin Easton, Kevin Kulina; (ST. THOMAS MORE) Kaleb Kowalchuk, Liam Sullivan, Sam Pratt, Christian Chukwuali; (ST. MARY) Justin Ledrew, Charlie Ruzzier, Cole Elms, Hunter Richer, Luca Finoro, Jonathan Makarski, William Wilkinson, Jack Stanley; (CATHEDRAL) Isaiah Petryk-Orr, Domenic Kearns; (ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN) Kymarri Smith, Nolan Methot, Marko Moravac, Luka Sandric, Jacob Whitlock, Gianluca Klepin, Riley Lachance, Owen Prak, Jesiah Acquah; (ST. JEAN DE Brébeuf ) Jack Cino, Trent Garden.
Statistics courtesy of John Metcalfe.
Photos R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on the HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page here
