There’s no such thing as ‘just an exhibition game’ in high school football.
The St. Thomas More junior Knights looked the part of a team with a purpose on Wednesday, taking full advantage of its opportunities in a 35-16 triumph over the visiting John Barsby Bulldogs at Burnaby Lake.
Led by a sharp performance from quarterback Dario Ciccone, the Knights built up a solid lead in the first half and maintained the momentum for most of the game.
The Knights’ Grade 10 pivot opened the scoring when he hit Michael Simone on a pass-and-run play that resulted in a 35-yard touchdown. The two would hook up again for a 22-yard major, while Ciccone would account for two more TDs, on runs of five and 22 yards.
Ciccone scrambled for nearly 100 yards and completed eight of 11 pass attempts.
Scoring the other major for the Burnaby crew was Marc Abboud, on a 12-yard running play.
Accounting for four quarterback sacks and helping create a number of fumbles was nose tackle Sam Steele.
“I think the score kind of flattered us, really,” said STM coach Dave Ruzycki. “(Barsby) run the wing-T offence and it makes it hard to know who has the ball, but our defence did very well. We took advantage of a couple of turnovers and they scored late after we made some substitutes.”
Earlier, the Knights handled Abbotsford 20-14.
Ruzycki, who has coached football for three decades, said Ciccone’s skill and demeanor at QB has been impressive.
“I would honestly say that in the years I’ve coached junior and senior ball, (Ciccone) is among the top-three best QBs I’ve been fortunate to coach. ... He’s mature beyond his years.”
While the squad has elite talents like Ciccone, Simone and Steele, a major plus is the committment all 36 players have shown, Ruzycki said.
“We’ll be competitive.”
