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Huron Heights complete comeback in battle of the undefeated




By Jake Courtepatte

A clash of titans on Friday left the Huron Heights Warriors as the only remaining undefeated team in York Region football.
In a rematch of the 2015 YRAA final, in which the Warriors emerged the victor, the team from Newmarket rallied with two fourth quarter touchdowns to upset Aurora's St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs.
The St. Max defence dominated the first quarter, denying the Huron offence from crossing midfield. Andrew End scored the only points of the first twelve minutes, sending it through the uprights for a 3 – 0 lead.
Mustangs quarterback Ben Langlois was on fire in the first half, airing out a short pass to wide receiver Jordan Torres, who ran it 23 yards to bring his team within scoring distance. Soon after he was able to find Jack Camplin in the end zone with a 35-yard pass for the major, and a 10 – 0 lead. A missed field goal by End shortly after made it 11 – 0.
St. Max seemed to hold onto the momentum into the intermission, with defensive back Matthew Vassos making an incredible interception after Huron's Danny McWhirter had brought his team into the red zone with a 60-yard punt return in the final minute.
But Langlois, who was St. Max's player of the game and threw for 143 yards, one TD, and zero interceptions, was overshadowed by his Huron counterpart in the second half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Warriors quarterback Colin Grant capped off a long drive with a quarterback sneak down the middle, a ten-yard touchdown. A missed two-point conversion made the score 11 – 6.
Late in the fourth quarter, a grueling 85-yard drive brought Huron back into the red zone, and eventually to a first down on the one. Grant once again ran it in, before Mike Strumos converted an extra two points, for a 14 – 11 Huron lead.
Langlois' attempt to rally his team ended with just under a minute left on a dropped pass, with Huron taking a knee to kill the clock.
St. Max Kolbe coach Joe Gaudio said he was pleased with his team's efforts.
“I believe that we stayed disciplined and aggressive in our defensive assignments,” said Gaudio. “I was also very happy that we were able to force them into some turnovers, which gave us some great field position and got us out of some tough spots. Once again, our film work and preparation really helped us in that area.”
Gaudio said his team will be working on pass protection and run blocking up front if they are to once again meet up with Huron in the YRAA final.
“Huron is a very solid team on all 3 sides of the ball. They are not the number 7 ranked team in Canada for nothing. Our boys deserve all the credit for almost knocking them off on Friday, in their own backyard. We are going to have to get back to work and continue to improve in all three areas of the game, if we want to achieve all of our goals by season's end.”
Excerpt: A clash of titans on Friday left the Huron Heights Warriors as the only remaining undefeated team in York Region football.
Post date: 2016-10-13 11:52:44
Post date GMT: 2016-10-13 15:52:44
Post modified date: 2016-10-13 11:52:44
Post modified date GMT: 2016-10-13 15:52:44
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