St. Thomas More Knights vs Centennial Centaurs

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The St. Thomas More Knights took Friday's weather in stride. The Knights play old-fashioned ground-and-pound football on their way to a 16-6 win against the Centennial Centaurs. 

"It was not pretty. It wasn't warm and probably not that fun to watch. But, with 0 attempted passes all night, we got a gritty win in a soaking wet, hard-fought battle against Centennial," said Knights Head Coach Jared Power on his team's big win. 

STM's triple-option attack is made for nights like this. In the pouring rain and colder weather, you have to be able to run the ball to win games, and the Knights did just that. But as Coach Power said earlier, it was far from pretty. 

The Knights fumbled inside their 30-yard line on their first two drives. After surviving their first mistake unscathed, Centennial punished the Knights for their second fumble and took a 6-0 lead.

Nico Pallares answered swiftly for the Knights when he took a toss to the right, then cut back all the way to the left sideline and sprinted 45 yards for the score. He then put the extra point through the uprights to Put STM up 7-6. 

The rest of the first half was a stalemate. Both teams had issues handling the ball due to the weather and struggled to put up points because of it. 

In the second half, Steven Nicklin went to work continually pounding the ball for tough-earned yards. The Knights handed the ball to their back 25 times for 185 yards in the game and started to wear down the Centaur's defense. 

The Knights weren't putting up touchdowns, but they were Winning the battle of field position. Eventually, the Knights pressured the Centaurs into choosing to take a safety.

On the ensuing kickoff, Pallares made another big play, this time on the kick return, taking the ball past midfield and putting his team in a position to strike. On the ensuing drive, Knights' grade 10 Quarterback Pat Cuesta-Leon pulled a triple option and ran 19 yards to put the Knights up 16-6.

Centennial got within striking distance late in the 4th quarter, desperately looking to respond. Driving deep into Knights territory, Knights defensive back Cristiano Loyie-Silva sealed the 16-6 win with a clutch interception.

The Knights' defense had another strong outing. Wyatt Kully led the Knights with nine tackles, and Liam Golding had 6 of his own. 

Power says the Knights were battling more than the conditions. 

"This was a character win for us. We challenged our kids this week. Multiple kids had the flu, missed days, and showed up on days they probably shouldn't have. Then came and played a tough game. I'm very proud of them."

The Knights will go on the road next Friday when they play the Terry Fox Ravens.