BISHOP MAHONEY WILL DEFEND PROVINCIAL TITLE.
Saints shut out Moose Jaw
Saints 22, Peacock 0
The Bishop Mahoney Saints earned the right to defend their 3A high school football provincial title with a 22-0 semifinal win over Moose Jaw’s Peacock Tornadoes on Saturday in Moose Jaw.
After a scoreless first half, the Saints broke out with two third- quarter touchdown passes by quarterback Tyson Pylypow and never looked back.
“It was a defensive battle,” Bishop Mahoney head coach Kirby Frey said. “They couldn’t get anything going on our defence and we struggled to move the ball on them in that first half.
“In the second half, we stretched them out with a couple of really long passes for touchdowns.”
Pylypow hit Daymen Ashmeade and Seb Turcotte for touchdowns of 35 and 45 yards, respectively. He also added a one-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth to seal the game.
Frey was impressed with Peacock Collegiate, who the Saints have never encountered before.
“Their kids showed up to play. You could tell they were well prepared and they made some good adjustments,” he said.
“They were very aggressive, very physical. I think we just wore them down a bit in the first half, came out and took it to them in the second half.”
Bishop Mahoney will travel to Regina on Saturday for the 3A final. They’ll play the winner of Regina O’Neill and Balgonie’s Greenall School, who play Monday evening.
While nothing is guaranteed, O’Neill looks to have the advantage in their semifinal, having hammered Greenall 64-8 earlier this year.
Should O’Neill win, it will set up the third meeting between them and the Saints in as many years. Last year Bishop Mahoney beat O’Neill in the provincial final, while O’Neill knocked the Saints out in the semifinal the year before.
“It’s kind of the rubber match I guess. We’ll see how it goes,” said Frey, making sure to note that Greenall could pull off a semifinal upset.
Whichever team they face, provincial rules state the Saints will get video of just one of their opponent’s previous games. While they’ll study hard, the limited information can only help so much.
“It’s really hard to tell how good an individual player is until you really line up against him and play,” Frey said.
All of Saskatchewan’s other high school football divisions will also hold their finals Saturday,
In nine- man football, Melfort will host Warman. Hanley will play at home against Ituna/Keliher in the 1A six-man final, while the 2A six-man final will see Wynyard travel to play Watrous.
The winner of Monday’s Saskatoon 4A city final between Centennial and Holy Cross will host the winner of Regina’s city championship between the Le-Boldus Golden Suns and the Winston Knoll Wolverines, which is also Monday.
The 4A provincial final will kick off Saturday at 1 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.