ONT (ROPSSAA): CFC#44 Panthers are Peel powerhouse

CFC#44 St. Marguerite d’Youville Panthers played their third game in ten days on Wednesday and absolutely dominated St. Mikes Thunder 48-0.

Lead by defensive captain and CFC Top 100 Damian Halstead, the Panthers pitched their second shutout of the season, and played a very aggressive and physical style like we’ve seen over the years.  St. Mikes attempted to take advantage of a young DB core, but d’Youville played tight and only allowed one catch for a first down the entire game.

In the third quarter, Panther strong safety Chris Vitale, picked off a Thunder pass and returned it to the house for a 62 yard touchdown.

On offense, the Panthers pounded the ball down the field every drive.  Their high powered double wing offense looked very much in sync and could not be stopped.  SS/RB Chris Vitale was absolutely brilliant throughout the course of the game, adding 102 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on offense. FB Damian Halstead was in beast mode once again with his extremely physical play, and produced 186 all purpose yards and 1 touchdown. First year FB Marquis Richards tacked on 78 yards rushing for the Panthers.

Also scoring for d’Youville was RB Jonathan Joseph with 2 touchdowns and RB Damian Darko with 1 touchdown. K Kieran Dee added 6 extra points.

d’Youville’s return game was also stellar, with some exceptional blocking. Returner Sodiq Ibrahim had 146 yards on 5 returns, Kieran Dee had 27 yards on one return, and Jared Edwards had a 94 yard return to the endzone that was called back on a hold.

With the win, the Panthers remain undefeated in Peel’s north division with a record of 3-0-1.  d’Youville’s defense is ranked first in all of Peel with only 20 points scored against, and the Panthers offense is currently ranked second in the league with 142 points in four games played.

d’Youville was still without their CFC Top 100 players,  Malik Richards and Donovan Glave. The Panthers hope to have them back on the field next Friday when they host a strong St. Augustine Falcons squad at 12 noon.