By Larry Moko
For the first time in the 19-year history of Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School both its football teams have captured championships in the same season.
A week after the BT seniors defeated St. Thomas More Knights in the league final, the Ancaster school's juniors earned top Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic honours with a 35-20 victory Friday over the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals.
And both age groups went undefeated (6-0) in the process.
"This year was special for our team," Tonnos coach Cartier Shields said. "We had a goal and a mission. Today was the culmination of all that hard work and dedication."
The last time Tonnos won a junior title was 2010. "It's been a long time since the junior team got on the board," the Titans coach added.
Cartier's son, Xavier, led the way for the win against second-place Newman. In rushing for well over 100 yards, he scored four touchdowns and threw for another.
Twice Xavier connected on long halfback-pass trickery, including a 20-yarder to Julius Dryden for a major score on the final play of the first half.
Just before Dryden's touchdown, there was a wild turn of events. At the other end of the field Newman's Jaxon Iaquinto's 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Carter Coston and nearly returned all the way by Christopher Song. That left 1.5 seconds showing on the clock.
"I think the big difference was the blocked field goal at the end of the half," Newman coach Serge Fuca said. "It changed the tide. We had an opportunity to put some points on the board but they flipped it."
So instead of going into the intermission trailing 14-9, Newman was behind 21-6.
In addition to a pair of second-quarter field goals by Iaquinto (20 and 29 yards), the Cardinals got a touchdown each from Landon Coe and Michael Finelli in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Coe connected on a deep pass to Ethan Belisle for 37-yards before plowing ahead into the end zone himself from two yards out. And Finelli returned a kickoff all the way for his TD to cap the scoring with 6:11 remaining.
Fuca praised the performance of Shields, who also played safety.
"That No. 1 is a great player," Fuca said. "He ran the ball, threw the ball, blocked and tackled. He did a bit of everything."
Grade 10 student Shields along with fellow running backs Gianluca Frangipane and Coston were provided the blocking help they needed from a dynamic offensive line.
"One day that offensive line is all going to be playing at the next level," coach Shields said. "That group prides itself on being in the trenches and really being physical and dominant on the line of scrimmage. It doesn't hurt that some of them are big, but they are also skilled."
Shields also took a handoff and passed 38 yards to Frangipane in the fourth quarter.
"We just practised it for Newman this week," Shields said. "I played quarterback when I was younger, but I haven't played (that position) in a couple of years."
Coach Shields said solid blocking and the schemes drawn up for his son enabled him to get into the end zone as many times as he did.
"It's never about one guy," the Titans coach said. "It's about the team. We have a saying on our shirts 'We is greater than the Me.' It's something we believe in. Everybody plays a role. And we take that role seriously."
Giancarlo Falletta booted five conversions for Tonnos which, last season, won the Tier II championship.
During the regular schedule Tonnos downed Newman, 35-24.
The season is not over for the senior Titans. They travel to Burlington Tuesday to take on the Corpus Christi Longhorns in a 2 p.m. Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference final. The winner advances to an OFSAA Festival Bowl game later this month.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
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