Sometimes, you simply have to tip your hat to a very worthy opponent.

It really didn’t matter a whole lot that the Lo-Ellen Park Knights knew that the offensive unit of the Korah Colts was not about to pass the ball – ever.

With the Sault Ste Marie city champs averaging somewhere in the neighbourhood of ten yards a carry, the powerhouse Colts rode a run-heavy attack (yep, a bit of an understatement considering their offense did not feature a singular pass attempt) to a 42-0 lead at the half, shifting into cruise control for the final two quarters of a 49-22 NOSSA semi-final triumph over the SDSSAA home side.

Workhorse Kaylob Thibodeau bulldozed his way in for two of the first three Korah majors, but after that, it was time to give everyone some touches as Ronan Provenzano, Arwin Shafiee, Gabe Byron, Owen Trecartin and Ethan Carchidi also reached the end zone. Kicker Ty Koski was perfect on the day, splitting the uprights on seven straight convert attempts.

Displaying some encouraging fight in the second half (truth be told, the fight was there in the first half – but for the fact that the Knights were physically outmatched by an opponent who was near-flawless in their execution of plays), Lo-Ellen received scores from Steven Sola (TD), Quin Mazzuchin (TD and 2 pt PAT) and Carson Huzij (TD and 2 pt PAT), making the scoreboard much more presentable.

Despite the half-time deficit, the now two-time defending SDSSAA banner recipients had plenty of reason to forge ahead in the face of adversity.

“We reiterated the fact that there are a lot of grade 12’s, a lot of grade 13’s on our team,” noted running back Liam Conlin, who broke a run for some 25 yards in the dying minutes of the contest. “We’re a senior heavy team and for a lot of our guys, this will be there last game today.”

“We wanted to go out and finish the game strong, with a lot of heart and prove that we are a good football team. I think in the second half, we proved that we could somewhat hang with them.”

Pretty much to a man, the Knights were positively philosophical as the final buzzer sounded.

“Even with the end result being the way it was, I am happy with the season, I am happy with what we accomplished,” said Conlin. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team to spend my last season with. I love every single one of these guys.”

The Lively Hawks did not fare any better than their senior brethren, dropping the NOSSA Junior Football final 49-7 to the Korah Colts in Sault Ste Marie.

Lively scoring came courtesy of a touchdown pass from signal-caller Ian MacDonald to Kadin Broomhead, with Koen Palmquist adding the convert.