Ontario (Peel): Offense sparks Spirit’s return to form; Crusaders stay perfect

Divante Smith began the day feeling sick and wasn’t sure if he could suit up for St. Marcellinus later in the afternoon.
Apparently, his decision to put on a uniform and buck the illness was just the perfect cure for the Spirit’s struggling offense.
Smith ran for three touchdowns in the second half, helping St. Marcellinus turn a close affair into a blowout as the Spirit defeated the Meadowvale Falcons 21-5 in Week Three of the Region of Peel Secondary Schools Athletic Association on Friday.
The Spirit haven’t scored in double digits in two games, and coach Vinnie Saliba preached the importance of execution to get them points on the board.
They still couldn’t get anything going in the first half though, but things started to click for the Spirit after the break when they unleashed Smith.
“First half, we gave up a safety, it was kind of a battle of field positions. In the second half, we really committed to the run and I think that’s what tipped the scales in our favour,” Saliba said.
Smith now has a season total four TDs, the first one coming in garbage time of the Spirit’s loss to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Crusaders in Week Two.
He came into Friday’s game determined to make his scores matter.
“We had shaky moments, like nervousness, thinking this game would have the same outcome as the last game but we pulled together,” Smith said, referring to the defeat to the Crusaders in which the Spirit were limited to seven points.
“We needed to show the other teams what potential we have and I think we did that.”
Smith might have demonstrated some toughness along the way too, having suffered flu-like symptoms in the morning that forced him to go to the hospital.
“I didn’t get much sleep because of my sickness. I feel kinda shaky,” he said.
“Part of me was saying [not to play] but I listened to other half that wanted to play.”
The Spirit raised their record to 2-1 while the Falcons, who couldn’t follow up their spectacular win over St. Joseph in Week Two, fell to 1-2.
In other South division games on Friday, Mount Carmel (3-0) routed St. Joseph (0-3) 51-6 to stay perfect, and St. Francis Xavier (1-1) shocked Lorne Park (0-2) in a 17-11 victory.
Running back Jahvari Bennett scored two touchdowns and Brandon Tate added two scores of his own as the Crusaders posted Ropssaa’s second highest single-game point total of the season.
It was also the second biggest margin of victory behind St. Marguerite d’Youville’s 65-0 plastering of Mayfield in a North division game in Week Two.
Despite the lopsided contest, Crusaders coach Pat McCallion said he didn’t want the fundamentals to be lost on his players.
“We didn’t want to run up the score. Even if the score is in our favour and there’s a big margin, we’re still working on our players to execute plays that we’re sending in,” McCallion said.
“Whether it results in a score or not is not the big issue. It’s how they execute and conduct themselves.”
In the Central division, St. Augustine upped its record to 2-0 following a 34-1 trouncing of Father Goetz (0-3) on Thursday