A beat down is not what many anticipated prior to Saturday's OFC matchup between league-leading St. Clair College (5-0) and second place London Beefeaters (4-1), the team's with the two best records. Fans were treated to another offensive explosion as the Saints won 68-0.
"London's the same team we beat 37-7 (to open the season)," said St. Clair head coach Mike Lachance. "It's not like they got worse. People have to realize, we're gaining momentum."
The Saints led 21-0 at the half but the offence didn't get going until the second quarter when quarterback Maurice Sodja rushed the ball in from one yard out to open the scoring at 2:54.
"We were only up 21-0 at the half and everyone was like 'Oh my, St. Clair is struggling." said Saints head coach Mike Lachance.
The Clair blew open the game in the third quarter as Cameron St. Kitts Park took the second half kickoff 100 yards to paydirt and electried Acumen Stadium. The Saints then scored on three consecutive possessions for a 54-0 advantage heading into the final frame. They added a couple of more touchdown in the 4th.
Comments online questioned the strength of the league this year. "People have to stop with that," Lachance told Powerplay Sports. "The league's not bad. London's not bad. Matt Snyder does a fabulous job with that team. They have last year's MVP and the number three player in the country at running back. They return all their offensive linemen. They have an established veteran quarterback."
Lachance continued naming high calibre players from both the Beefeaters and Ottawa Sooners, who they beat handily last weekend. "Sometimes people just have to say, wow, St. Clair is playing well. Wow, St. Clair recruited really well. Wow, St. Clair's got a really good team instead of turning it the other way and saying the league's bad."
Check out the video below featuring a 20-yard third quarter pass from Maurice Sodja to Riley Sagriff.
The Saints hit the road for their final two games of the regular season beginning in Ottawa next weekend. Unless the bottom falls out, St. Clair won't be back home until the third week of October to host an OFC semi-final game.
"We just got to eliminate the white noise," Lachance said. "We know what we are and we know what we have to do and we know where we want to go and there's some teams in our way. We have two more regular season games. We're not going out to overlook either team."
Comentarios