Loyola has high hopes coming into this season after winning the Tier 2 championship last season. They’ll have their work cut out for them in the wide open top tier. Despite losing the opener to Corpus Christi, the Nelson Lords looked solid. Assumption got off to a a good start shutting out Notre Dame and Holy Trinity looked in mid-season form in their win over M.M. Robinson. Combine the strong competition with 2 games in 4 days to open the season and Loyola has a steep climb to the top of the tier. The Hawks will be led by returning quarterback Thomas Knapp. The coaching staff was high on Knapp last season as he took over at the pivot in his first year as a senior. He did not disapoint, leading the Hawks to the Tier 2 championship. This year he’ll be leaning on running back Brett Colangelo and receiver Mike Danton for explosive plays. Defensively the charge will be led by the pass rushing and run stuffing abilities of defensive linemen Justin Bloemetje and J.P. Ortega and linebacker Austin Passarello. Loyola will look to build on last year’s success, but will surely be tested Friday against an M.M. Robinson team that dropped its opener last week.
Expect Rams coach Marcello Campanaro to have his team ready to rebound from their season opening loss to Holy Trinity. Campanaro will likely gameplan to maintain ball possession and control the clock preying on the fact that Loyola just played three days prior, in an attempt to tire out the Hawks. The Rams have the right personel to execute such a gameplan. They return quarterback Troy Downton, who will have various weapons at his disposal. Among them are running backs Jack Woolfrey and John Howard and receivers Jesse Myers and Jake Jones. Downton will need time to get the football to his playmakers so his offensive line will have to follow the lead of Nick Firlit who leads a young group. A handfull of Rams will play on both sides of the ball like so many teams, but the glue of the defence will be Troy Murphy at defensive end. Murphy’s size and wingspan make him a matchup nightmare and the Hawks would be wise to give the offensive line help by using a running back to chip block on him. If that happens it should free up one on one matchups for other Rams to get pressure on the passer.
Both teams feature playmakers on offence and pass rushers on defence. Both return experienced starting quarterbacks and both coaches have a great feel for how to motivate their players. With such an even matchup this one will likely come down to who has the fourth quarter conditioning to make a big play at a critical juncture.
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
FPC West Showcase Spotlight: West Kelowna OG aiming for greatness
