Ontario (Peel): Panthers rally to top Angels, clinch title

Throughout the season, the spotlight in St. Marguerite d’Youville fell mostly on its vaunted offense.

In the Panthers’ most important game of the year, it was the defense that got a lot of credit and in the end delivered them another championship.

Bryce Hines scored a touchdown on an interception return, Kevin Nartey had a TD off a fumble recovery and the Panthers broke a close game wide open late in the fourth quarter to beat the St. Joan of Arc Angels, 27-10, and clinch the title in the Region of Peel Secondary Schools Athletic Association at the Centennial Park Stadium in Etobicoke on Thursday.

“We knew it was going to come down to the wire, and then we just put our defense out there and believed in them,” Panthers coach JP Falacho said.

The Panthers trailed 10-0 at one point in the first half, before clawing back and taking the lead, 13-10, on Emmanuel Isaac’s 42-yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the game.

In his team’s ensuing possession, Angels quarterback Nate Hobbs was picked cleanly by Hines who had a clear path to the end zone for a score. Isaac’s extra point doubled the Panthers’ lead, 20-10.

Hobbs turned it over again in Joan of Arc’s next drive, fumbling the ball amid a pass rush. This time it was Nartey who made the Angels pay with another score.

“We wanted to win from the beginning of the year,” said Falacho, who guided d’Youville to its second tier-one title in three years.

“That was our No. 1 goal, one game at a time. We’ll win the games, get better as we play, and obviously our goal in the end was to win the Ropssaa championship.”

This was the third straight season that the Panthers and the Angels met in the playoffs, but their first battling for the ultimate prize.

The Angels were on the board first, courtesy of William Pitt-Doe’s 75-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Daniel Voci kicked for the extra point to make it 7-0.

Voci’s field goal at the three-minute mark of the first half extended the Angels’ lead to 10-0.

But the Panthers caught a break just before halftime, when Hines returned the punt for 70 yards for a first-and-goal.

Nakas Onyeka forced his way through the Angels defense for a touchdown, before Isaac’s extra point made it 10-7 at the close of the half.

Falacho said he had a simple message for his players when they fell behind.

“All I told them was do your job to the best of your ability,” he said. “We know a game’s 48 minutes. It’s not 12 minutes, it’s not one quarter, it’s not two quarters. We know we had to play from beginning to the end.”

D’Youville star running back Jadon Johnson was a marked man in the playoffs. After going scoreless in the semifinal against Notre Dame, he was again without a touchdown versus Joan of Arc.

But like he did in the previous game against the Knights, in which he ran for a huge gain to get Isaac in position for the game-tying field goal, Johnson keyed a drive that set up Isaac for an attempt at the go-ahead field goal.

Isaac didn’t disappoint, putting his team ahead for the first time in the game and sending the d’Youville faithful on its feet.

“There was a lot of pressure, but it had to be done to win,” said Isaac, who last week sent the semifinal against the Crusaders to overtime with a 28-yard field goal.

“I actually play soccer, that’s why I’m confident with my kicks. I’ve been kicking all year, and I haven’t missed a field goal yet so my confidence should be up.”

Johnson said the final was “a team effort.”

“I definitely give a lot of credit to the offensive line,” he said. “We’re a team with a lot of heart, a lot of determination. I ran the hardest, they blocked the hardest and that was good for us.

“This is incredible. This is one of the best feelings I’ve had in my life. This is the first championship I’ve ever won, and I love my team for that.”

It was clear that d’Youville’s defensive game plan was to get to Hobbs, and the Panthers did that with regularity throughout the game. But it wasn’t until the final two minutes when the Panthers’ relentlessness paid off with the pair of turnovers they forced that led to the Hines and Nartey touchdowns.

The Angels, who are now 1-2 against the Panthers in the postseason, were playing in their first tier one final.

“The score doesn’t indicate how close the game was. We couldn’t capitalize on the plays when we needed to,” Angels coach Tom Pianta said.

“D’Youville’s got a solid team. We know they were going to be the best team we’d face all year and they proved to be, and I give them all the credit in the world.

“But I’m very proud of our guys. Considering we’re the smallest school by population in tier one, to have an undefeated regular season and come out here and play tough, I’m very proud of our guys and our program.”