An undefeated Confederation Chargers team three weeks into the SDSSAA Senior Boys football system would raise very few eyebrows - if not for the 1-0-2 record the defending champs are sporting with two weeks remaining in regular season play.
In a league that has been traditionally home to a singular tied game once every four to five years, the Chargers racked up their second in three weeks last Friday, playing to an 18-18 draw with the Lo-Ellen Park Knights - and this on the heels on a 42-42 match in week one with the St Charles College Cardinals.
A pair of short runs to paydirt for Ryley Clarke combined with a first quarter field goal for Domadius Aziz, along with a single and two converts for same had Confederation leading 18-6 with just over eight minutes to play.
Lo-Ellen star running back Levi Blouin had other ideas, recording his second and third touchdowns of the night in the fourth quarter as the Knights were unable to convert any of his scores, settling for the 18-18 tie in the process.
That contest was the only close one of the night as the St Benedict Bears improved to 3-0 with a 34-2 win over the Lively Hawks while the St Charles College Cardinals ran roughshod over the Lockerby Vikings.
The Hawks managed to hold the Bears at bay through two quarters of football, trailing 7-2 at the half before St Benedict ran away as Moshood Adeleye, Oliver Poupore, Osekokhune Okojie, Brendan Giffin and Jude Thiessen scored one touchdown apiece for the league leaders.
Gabe Matozzo split the uprights with four converts to wrap up the St Benedict offense while Lively opened the scoring with a safety touch in the second quarter of play.
Finally, the Cardinals had no trouble racking up their first win of the season following a tie and a loss, blasting Lockerby 61-0 as Noah Arsenault darted into the end zone three different times to show the way.
Following in those footsteps were Mavrick Parker, Emmanuel Appiah-Hagan, Connor Paris, Nigel Romero, Koda Peltier and Nolan Larche, all with one TD each, with Appiah-Hagan (6 converts and a single) and Sele Serewa (convert) also chipping in with their feet.
Still, it is with the ball in his hands where Appiah-Hagan does the most damage, the son of Ghanaian parents a constant threat for opposing defenses. "I'm really fast and like to use that to my advantage," said the multi-sport talent.
"Growing up, I was always fast in soccer too. I've always played soccer but I tried football and liked it a lot."
After turning a number of heads with their week 1 tie with Confed and then bursting out to a 10-0 lead late in the opening half with Lo-Ellen, the Cardinals fell victim to the Knights come from behind effort, a valuable learning experience for SCC with the playoffs not all that far away.
"I think our team got carried away with the Confed tie," said Appiah-Hagan. "We had a letdown and didn't expect Lo-Ellen to hit us like that - and the results showed it. We have a mission and are going to work towards it."
With off-the-field nonsense becoming a major source of concern on Thursday and Friday night games, the schedule for this week has been altered, with St Charles and St Benedict kicking off at 12:45 p.m. on Friday, followed by Lo-Ellen and Lively at 3:00 p.m. and Confederation and Lockerby at 5:15 p.m. - all at the James Jerome Sports Complex.
