Marauders linebacker Thomas Rusk kisses the Canadian Tire Classic cup after winning it on Thursday over the Crusaders at Max Clunie Field. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Reclaiming the cup

Marauders reclaim Canadian Tire Classic cup, move on to Tier II playoffs

Oct 17, 2019 | 10:02 PM

After last week’s unusual 27-27 tie that saw the St. Mary Marauders and Carlton Crusaders senior football teams share the cup at the Canadian Tire Classic, the football gods wanted to see a rematch.

And just how it worked out in the schedule, that’s exactly what happened on Thursday at Max Clunie.

The Marauders were victorious in the rematch, beating the Crusaders 23-11. In doing so, not only do they advance into the Tier II playoffs to play Walter Murray next week, they also reclaim the cup after the Crusaders had won it last year. The Marauders have now won the cup seven times in the eight years since its creation.

“It feels great, especially after last week having that tie,” Marauders quarterback Kyle Witkowski said. “We came out firing today. We were ready for battle.”

“I’m really happy for my Grade 12’s. Last week, they were so broken up over not winning,” Marauders head coach Curt Hundeby said. “As much as we want to downplay this and say it’s just another game—it’s a big deal. Both teams really get up to play. Last game was an awesome game and it was a battle back and forth. It showed how close we were.”

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But this week, it was the Marauders’ defence that played a big part. The only blemish the defence gave up was a 71-yard rush to Crusaders quarterback Ryan Adamko with 2:05 left in the game. Other than that, they were able to keep the Crusaders out of the end zone and away from their posts. The other four points the Crusaders got were Marauders’ conceding two safeties.

“This week, our defence played really, really well,” Hundeby said. “We missed one play at the end when [Adamko] took a long one to score, but our coverage was good, I thought we tackled really well on the run for the most part, and they held us in it. They held the offence in it for the first half while we kind of sputtered and got things figured out.”

The Marauders had to surrender the first points of the game. They conceded their first of two safeties of the game six minutes into the game, but only after a long punt return from Ethan Gee was called back on a holding penalty. A fumble on second down forced them even closer to their own goal line.

But the Marauders were able to get points of their own on the board shortly after. Seth LeMoal ran in from 36 yards out after finding a seam on the left side, then rumbled and dove under the goal post for the major score. The Marauders went for the two-point conversion but didn’t make it and led 6-2.

The Marauders also ended the first half with a long drive deep in Crusader territory. The half ended as the Marauders successfully kicked a field goal, leading 9-2 at the half.

The Marauders conceded another safety in the third quarter, after they stopped the Crusaders deep in their own territory in the third quarter.

The Marauders got a big score from Carter McDougall, as he found pay dirt from five yards out, after setting it up with a big reception earlier in the drive. That put the Marauders up 16-4 with two seconds left in the third. That ended up being the winning scoring play of the game.

Kyle Witkowski put the game out of reach with a one-yard rush for a touchdown with 3:10 left in the game, making it a 23-4 game.

Ryan Adamko then made it interesting with a 71-yard touchdown rush with 2:05 left, but that’s as close as the Crusaders would get.

With the win, the Marauders will move on to the Tier II playoffs and play the other team that shares their moniker, the Walter Murray Marauders.

“It’s going to be easy to cheer for,” Hundeby said. “We haven’t spent a speck of time looking at them, we were totally focused on this week. I’ve already talked to the coach that does our film. I said ‘we need the last three films of Walter Murray up tonight.’ We’ll enjoy this a little bit, but we’ll get right at it.”

The Crusaders will conclude their season in Tier III with a matchup against the Bedford Road Redhawks.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW