Last minute burst lifts Rams to victory

     St. Joe' s junior team finds some late offence, while the senior team's O is MIA

     Friday, October 6, 2017

 ST. THOMAS - Better last minute then not at all.

The St. Joseph's Rams turned it on late, shocking the Regina Mundi Collegiate (RMC) Titans, with a 20-15 win, in London District junior football, during Friday Night Lights, at St. Joseph's high school.

The host Rams trailed 15-7, with under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, before striking twice with touchdowns.

Running back Jackson Miller pulled the Rams to within two points, finding the end zone on a 18-yard run. A two-point convert failed leaving the Rams down, 15-13.

St. Joe's attempted and recovered an onside kick, setting up the winning major by Cameron Fast, with Liam Bacon adding the point after touchdown (PAT).

"At the end of the day, 20-15, but we didn't show up on offence until the last two minutes of the game," Rams head coach Mike Shewan said. "They were defending well and we weren't moving the ball well at all."

St. Joe's opened the scoring, on an 18-yard TD pass play, from quarterback Jacob Ferwerda to Rayden Aphayuong, with Bacon booting the PAT, on the final play of the first quarter.

RMC took an 8-7 lead late in the third quarter, on a Derek Clements touchdown, followed by a two-point convert from Jeff Williams.

The Titans added to their lead with only 2:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, on Jordan McWade's 10-yard TD run, followed by the Williams PAT.

"Defence was dynamite," said Shewan, crediting Rams' defensive coordinator Wolff Schweitzer. "After our first touchdown, I don't think we got a first down that wasn't penalty aided (until the fourth). I said to the offence, we have to be a factor in the game."

Miller help ignite the offence with his ground work.

"We were still in the game at 15-7. Jackson Miller busted a few plays. We scored and went for two, but didn't get the two. We went on-side and as soon as we got on-side, we got the momentum and it just carried from there. It was an exciting finish."

St. Joe's improves to 2-1, entering a bye week for the team.

"We like to progress," Shewan said. "We're a very young team, with a lot of grade nine's playing key positions. This will be a good learning curve for them. We have things to work on, but all in all, the kids didn't give up."

While the St. Joseph's Rams' junior team found enough offence to pull out a victory, the senior squad could not, failing to even find the end zone.

RMC running back Otito Nwaogu busted into the end zone twice, as the Titans left with a 14-3 win, in the senior match-up.

"It's frustrating. We couldn't get anything going on offence," Rams head coach Eric Ursic said. "Our defence played well and held us in. It was close to the very end, but our offence couldn't put a drive together. When we can't do that, we lose momentum, we lose enthusiasm."

St. Joe's led 3-0 at half-time, on a single and safety. That score remained until Nwaogu broke through for a six yard TD run in to the end zone, in last minute of the third quarter.

Nwaogu had a nine-yard rumble for a major, in the fourth quarter, a minute after RMC picked up a single, on a missed field goal attempt.

"We just got worn out. We lost our starting linebacker and we were down our starting quarterback. We're hurting right now. They kept wearing us out."

St. Joe's lost QB Alex Craig to an injury, suffered during a loss to St. Andre Bessette, on September 28.

"We count on his leadership and unfortunately he wasn't with us and that it hurts a lot, because people rally around him," said Ursic. "I'm hoping he's back next week."