St. Charles in charge of high school football

It would take a little longer the second time around, but the St. Charles College Cardinals senior boys football team simply proved to be too much for the Lively Hawks - again.

After posting a 48-7 triumph over the Hawks in the first meeting between the two teams, the unbeaten Cardinals fully expected a tougher battle in the rematch. They were prepared and it showed, building on a 21-7 lead at the half, and adding some late scoring in a 42-14 victory.

"We knew they were going to come out hard, we expected that," said veteran linebacker Tyler Michaud.

"We had a little bit of a rough start offensively, then we picked it up. We had a bit of a rough start, on defense, at the beginning of the second half, but we kept it together as a team."

The running game produced all six St. Charles' majors with Matt Bell (3), Djuwa N'Galamulume (2) and Carter Struk sharing the load. Kicker Jonah Harris made good on all six point after attempts.

In spite of the final score, the fact was the glowing board on the sidelines of the turfed field at the James Jerome Sports Complex was displaying only a 28-14 Cardinals lead, early in the fourth quarter, with the Hawks threatening deep in St. Charles territory.

A huge interception by Michaud helped turn what could have been a nail-biter into a more comfortable victory, as Bell followed up soon thereafter with a 95 yard run to the opposing goal line, providing some breathing room for the Cards.

"I saw number two (Sean Antonioni) coming out wide," said Michaud. "Fabs (St. Charles coach Mike Fabiilli) just tells me all the time to take the running back. When the quarterback threw it up, I thought that this was a perfect pass for me."

"I'm a big guy, so I don't jump that high, but I was able to jump high enough to grab it."

The bulk of the Lively scoring came courtesy of running back Thomas Rideout, registering a pair of TDs.

Though Lively quarterback Noah Lagadin is looking more and more at ease developing a passing game, the fact remained that St. Charles knew that with speedster Josh Walker out of the lineup, their focus would rest squarely on one opposing player.

"We just tried to hit Rideout as hard as we could," said Michaud. "He's a beast on the field, it's so impressive to watch him run. We knew that if we could shut him down, we could win the game."

St. Charles improves to 5-0 with the win, while Lively falls to 3-2, likely needing a win in their final game of the year in order to secure second place and a playoff berth.

Bears down Alouettes in a massacre

The St. Benedict Bears kept their playoff hopes alive, completing a season sweep of the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes with a 37-0 whitewashing of the rebuilding Als.

Isaiah Baillargeon ran for a pair of majors, Cody Nkongolo amassed more than 200 yards on the ground, reaching the end zone once, and defensive lineman Jackson Gutsch rumbled home with a fumble recovery.

Offensive lineman turned kicker Zac Corcoran not only chipped in with four converts, but also sailed three field goals, all ranging from 22 to 30 yards out, through the uprights, for the Bears.

"We didn't want to come into this game cocky," said Gutsch, a possible by-product of a 31-0 win over CND back on Sept. 22.

"We knew that they had put up a pretty good fight against Lively, and that they've been improving. They're a pretty good team, I like CND - they're a class act."

While he did spend some time as a ball carrier going back to his days in the Joe MacDonald Youth Football League, Gutsch has concentrated on playing on both sides of the line since hitting high school.

"On "D" line, I can use my size and stuff, but on "O" line, I can use my aggression," said the 16 year-old grade 11 student with a smile.

Still, there was little to suggest that he would be called upon to unveil his bestMarshawn Lynch impression on Friday.

"CND has sort of this fake toss to number six," said Gutsch of his memorable run to the end zone. "I was watching number 25, and I remembered one play where our right end almost got the ball, they almost pitched it to him. I lined up in my "B" gap, and shot through. They pitched the ball, and I don't think he knew that he was getting it. I just picked up the ball and kept chugging my legs," Gutsch said. "That was one of the biggest adrenaline rushes of my life."

"I didn't want to celebrate too much, so I tried to calm down, but then my teammates came and surrounded me. That was pretty cool."

The Bears evened their record at 2-2, while the Alouettes remain winless at 0-4.

One sided affair as Chargers dismantle Gators

Finally, a huge showdown between the Confederation Chargers and Lo-Ellen Park Knights looms for this Thursday, as both teams cruised to victory over the past two days.

Paced by three touchdown performances from both Riley Barbeau and Austin Pharand, and single scores from Alex Tegman, Isaac Walt and Brock Connor (who also recorded a pair of safety touches), Confed lambasted the Bishop Carter Gators for the second time this fall, this time to the tune of 67-0.

Kyle Preseau added eight converts, with Pharand padding his stats a little more with a pair of singles on kickoffs.

The Knights looked at least as impressive in downing the Lockerby Vikings 34-0, recording their fourth win in as many games, all while integrating a boatload of younger talent into their starting lineup this year.

Confederation and Lo-Ellen kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, with the traditional Friday tripleheader following suit the next day.