GAME SUMMARY
Barrie, Ont. — CSASC Friday afternoon:
SUMMARY
First Quarter
JOA — TD Tessier 3 run (Koomson convert) 9:14
Second Quarter
JOA — TD Wilson 41 run (Koomson convert) 1:53
JOA — TD Wilson 57 run 5:11
SJ — Safety Tessier concedes 9:44
Third Quarter
JOA — TD Connelly 22 pass from Pretty (Two-point convert unsuccessful) 5:27
JOA — TD Wilson 41 run (Koomson convert) 7:33
Fourth Quarter
SJ — TD Rice 1 run (Chiuch to Clarke for two-point convert) 3:14
SJ — TD Rice 19 run (Rice convert) 10:06
Attendance — Not recorded.
Individual
Rushing: St. Joseph's — Rice 13-88; White 8-33; St. Joan of Arc — Wilson 11-201, 3 TD; O. Pritchett 6-44; Tessier 5-37, TD.
Receiving: St. Joseph's — Anderson 5-73; Clarke 1-53; Rice 1-18; White 1--3; St. Joan of Arc — Connelly 2-28; Johnson 3-27; Bayford 1-12.
Passing: St. Joseph's — Chiuch 7-24, 141 yards, 0 TD, 0 ints; St. Joan of Arc — Pretty 6-12, 67 yards, 1 TD, 0 ints; Tessier 0-1, 0 yards, 0 TD, 0 ints.
With a title on the line, it seems like Darius Williams can't be stopped.
After a 119-yard, two touchdown performance in last year's GBSSA title game, the St. Joan of Arc once again stepped up with 201 yards and three touchdowns to help his team repeat as CSASC senior football champs with a 33-17 win over St. Joseph's on Friday at J.C. Massie Field.
"Darius is a big game player," Knights co-head coach Chris Forde told Barrie360 postgame. "He's one of our key guys, obviously, one of our captains... we expect big things out of him every week, and he delivers."
All three of Wilson's touchdowns were on long runs, making up 139 yards of his rushing total and helping the Knights get out to a 33-2 lead entering the fourth quarter. He could've added a 36-yard rushing score just before half if not for an illegal blocking penalty that nullified it.
Aiden Tessier, on a three-yard run, and Nic Connelly, on a 22-yard pass from quarterback Nathan Pretty, also found paydirt up to that point.
Tessier's run opened the scoring. With the Knights in Jaguars territory on their second drive of the game, he took the direct snap on three consecutive plays, rushing for 31 yards leading to his score.
"We've been sprinkling in (the) Wildcat (formation) as the season's progressed," Forde said. "We've got a nice, tough runner there who also can throw the ball pretty well too. So he does give us both dimensions when we need it, but it's just another wrinkle to the game plan."
St. Joseph's best chance for an early offensive score came in the second when it reached the St. Joan of Arc's three-yard line, but a procedural penalty and another nine-yard loss led to a turnover on downs.
For the game, the Jaguars committed eight fouls totaling 70 yards.
They pressed in the fourth with two touchdown runs by Ryan Rice, but from there, the 16-point deficit was insurmountable. St. Joseph's final drive was marred by three dropped passes, leaving quarterback Gio Chiuch at 7-for-24 with 124 yards.
His counterpart, Pretty, finished 6-for-12 with 67 yards and a passing touchdown.
The Knights won both regular season matchups with the Jaguars, 17-16 and 21-19, respectively. Forde, who shares head coaching duties with Paul Milne, says those meetings were advantageous for the playoffs.
"We knew we had to be at our top speed if we were going to have a chance," he said. "it's difficult to beat anybody three times. We prepared well, we knew what to expect, and we did see a lot of what we expected to see."
St. Joan of Arc, the defending GBSSA triple-A champions, will face Bear Creek on Wednesday in the regional championship. It will be the third time the two foes will play each other in the GBSSA title game since 2021.
"They're always well coached and they're always a big, tough team," Forde said. "If we're not playing mistake-free football, it's going to be a tough day."
Meanwhile, St. Joseph will continue its season on Thursday in the double-A GBSSA championship against Innisdale.
