Cardinals, Knights to meet in city football final

The Lo-Ellen Park Knights will not meet up with the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes for an ultimate football rematch after all, through absolutely no fault of their own.

Playing in the second half of the SDSSAA semifinal double-header at the James Jerome Sports Complex Tuesday night, the Knights received a pair of first half touchdowns courtesy of running back Matt Glass, grounding the Lively Hawks 20-6.

But it was the earlier encounter that provided something of a surprise. Getting off to a great start and capitalizing on the return of quarterback Connor Chezzi, the St. Charles College Cardinals withstood a late rally from the Alouettes, clipping CND 15-13 to earn their spot opposite Lo-Ellen in the city final.

Considering the fact that Notre-Dame dusted off St. Charles 21-8 in week four of regular season play en route to a first-place finish with a record of 6-0, the playoff result qualifies as a mild upset.

Still, it should be noted that this was not the same St. Charles team that took to the field on Oct. 5. Over and above the return of Chezzi, who was sidelined with a broken collarbone in the Cardinals season-opener against Lockerby, coach Mike Fabiilli had a few other tricks up his sleeve on the eve of Halloween.

Moving some offensive linemen to double-duty and limiting the effectiveness of the Alouettes running game, the long-time St. Charles gridiron mentor presented a clear focus for his remaining defensive stalwarts to carry the load.

"They're a great passing team, and they have good running threats, but our first priority was taking away the pass," said linebacker Chris Fabiilli after the game.

In fact, unofficial game stats would show CND as completing their first pass of the game early into the second half. Credit for this can certainly be shared: the adverse weather conditions did not create an environment that easily allowed the passing attack of CND pivot Patrick Lemieux to thrive, despite the fact that the young left-hander actually threw the ball pretty well; the Cardinals defended the passing game well; and Notre-Dame receivers struggled to hold on to the ball, registering something like eight dropped passes, according to head coach Paul Gauthier.

Yet in spite of these hurdles, Notre-Dame nearly pulled this one out of the fire.

St. Charles built up a 15-4 lead at the half as Jake Graham (75-yard punt return) and Chezzi (37-yard run) accounted for the only majors of the opening two quarters.

A long third quarter pass from Lemieux to Marco Vigna set-up a 21-yard field goal attempt on which Vigna made good, narrowing the deficit to 15-7. Taking over the ball with just more than a minute remaining and going against the wind, Notre-Dame marched the length of the field as Mason Watt scampered home from the eight-yard line with exactly one second remaining on the clock.

Needing a successful two-point conversion to send the game to overtime, CND made the correct call on a play-action fake, freeing up Mathieu Langevin all alone in the end zone, only to see the pass sail roughly three yards out of his reach.

While the result was a bitter pill to swallow for the boys from Notre-Dame, their opponents celebrated a second straight close call in the post-season, having eliminated the St. Benedict Bears 42-35 last week with a last-minute touchdown from Mitchell Howatt.

"We were really nervous coming in," acknowledged linebacker Fabiilli. "We knew they were a very good team, but playoffs are playoffs and anything can happen."

The upstart Lively Hawks, coming off easily their most successful season, posting a record of 4-1-1, were hoping to catch more of that lightning in a bottle in the nightcap, facing Lo-Ellen.

Unfortunately for coach Reg Bonin and company, the Knights defence was up to the challenge at hand. The Lo-Ellen 12 swarmed consistently on their tackles, giving all-star quarterback Hunter Holub very little time to settle into the pocket, and even less room when he darted with the ball tucked under his arm.

With Glass lifting Lo-Ellen to a 13-0 halftime lead and QB Brady Ellsworth reaching paydirt in quarter number three with a 14-yard run, the Knights remained in control, keeping the Hawks off the scoreboard until the game's dying minutes.

With just 3:45 to play, Holub connected with Ian Robbie on a 17-yard pass and run, cutting the lead to 20-6. Lively recovered an on-side kick on the very next play, making things a little more interesting, but Lo-Ellen defence would bend no further.

As the dust settled Tuesday evening, local football fans left the complex looking forward to this coming Saturday, when the Lockerby Vikings and Lasalle Lancers contest the Division B title at 4 p.m., followed by the St. Charles vs Lo-Ellen battle at 7:30 p.m.

That match-up means that four different school names will grace the Copper Cliff Jewellers trophy over the past four years, with the Knights searching for their first title since upsetting St. Benedict in 2008, while the Cardinals look to end a decade-long drought, last capturing the city championship in 2001.