CISAA: UCC defeats St. Michael’s to go on to CISAA Championship

For the second year in a row, the Upper Canada Blues have earned a spot in the CISAA Championship game. UCC defeated the St. Michael’s College Blues last Saturday, 34-10, in the semi-final game.

Once again, UCC receiver Marc-Andre Alexandre opened scoring with a touchdown reception three minutes into the first quarter. A couple of minutes later, Alexandre returned a punt for another touchdown. By the ten minute mark, UCC was up 10-0. St. Michael’s was able to put a field goal up on the board before the end of the first, but they were not able to score any touchdowns.

The second quarter saw SMC’s offense finally start to work their way down the field. After two goal line stops, SMC quarterback Calvin Vaughn hopped over the defensive line for a touchdown. With a score of 14-10, the rest of the game would be controlled by UCC. Before the end of the half, UCC was able to tally another touchdown with only 25 seconds remaining to get ahead 21-10. There was great chemistry between UCC quarterback Liam Power and his receivers Marc-Andre Alexandre, Manny Gomez and Luke Stevens.

The second half did not go much better for SMC. UCC forced a fumble and thanks to SMC’s penalties found their way up the field with ease. By the end of the third UCC was up 24-10. UCC continued to bring on the offensive power, not letting SMC back into the game. The fourth quarter was filled with penalties and turnovers. The slowest quarter in football history finally ended with UCC up 34-10. “I was really proud of how hard the guys battled against a formidable opponent in St. Michael’s”, says UCC head coach David Shaw. “We played well in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams”.

St. Michael’s played well for the majority of the game. They did more than rely solely on running back Simon Chang to get into UCC territory. Quarterback Calvin Vaughn threw the ball consistently well. Receiver Kevin Collins had several clutch catches to help convert third downs. Receiver Kaion Grant ran and caught the ball well, with contributions from receiver Alex Zulys and others.

St. Michael’s College had a great season, finishing in second place in the regular season with a 3-2 record. Every year SMC is a great competitor in the CISAA division.

Upper Canada College will move on to play the undefeated St. Andrew’s Saints in the CISAA final. It will be a rematch from last year’s championship game. UCC has a tough game ahead of them as St. Andrew’s beat UCC 42-28 in week two. It was a back and forth game, and the closest game that St. Andrew’s had this season. UCC has the ability to beat St. Andrew’s, but they will need their defense to step up and stop Saint’s quarterback Chris Merchant from completing his passes. They will also need to watch out for receiver Malcolm Carter, Cole Sopik, and back Jonathan Femi-Cole who have been offensive terrors for St. Andrew’s this season. “The guys are very excited about playing St. Andrew’s”, says coach Shaw. “It will be a fantastic challenge for us, and a chance to see how good we can be”. The Championship game will take place at St. Andrew’s College on Wednesday at 1:30PM.
(all photos by Hannah McGregor)

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