It’s getting to the point where St. Thomas More Knights head coach Bernie Kully is afraid to find what team shows up at practice.
For a second time this season, bad practice habits during the week have resulted in disappointing results following a 38-18 loss to W.J. Mouat at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West last Friday.
“I told them it was analogous to this week. It’s a question whether they’re in or they’re out,” said Kully following the game. “It reminded me of a similar week against Tweedsmuir.
Four weeks earlier, an equally dysfunctional week of practice led to a 21-0 loss to Lord Tweedsmuir and a fall in the rankings.
In a game where the Knights trailed 24-0 at halftime before rallying somewhat to score three times in the final quarter, it was Mouats’ Maleek Irons’ night to shine.
The Eastern conference offensive MVP rushed for 374 yards and three touchdowns, including a single-handed drive up field for a score on the Hawks’ opening possession, that had many STM backers in attendance cringing for what was yet to come.
The loss left STM in a tie with Mouat at 5-2, while dropping the Burnaby independent to fourth place and a matchup with 3-3 Belmont in the first round of playoffs.
While Irons was gobbling up large chunks of yards in the first half, STM had just three first downs in the opening half. A late second-quarter interception also led to a Mouat score.
It wasn’t until the second half that quarterback Malcolm Lee got STM’s offensive back on track.
Lee completed passes to Kevin Marshall on four separate occasions to keep sustained drives alive, finally hooking up with J.J. DesLauriers on a 24-yard TD pass in the end zone for the Knights’ first score.
Andrew Flett hauled in a 20-yard strike from Lee for STM’s second touchdown. Lee, who rushed for 145 yards on the ground and passed for another 189 yards, finished off a third drive with a 15-yard scamper to the left side corner of the end zone.
Defensive all-stars Noah Usherwood and Marshall teamed up for 10 and eight tackles, respectively. Darius Mackay also had five tackles and one sack.
“In the second half, we showed we can run the ball and move the ball,” said Kully. “I’m confident we can get it done.”
With starting quarterback Chase Malcolm and running back Jalen Jana still questionable for the playoffs, Kully says it’s time for the remaining members to put bad practice habits behind them once and for all.
“We got to go with what we’ve got,” Kully said. “I’m happy with this group, but we got to clean up the practices.”
STM all-stars
St. Thomas More placed five players on the B.C. high school Eastern conference all-star team.
Running back Malcolm Lee and lineman Raf Posypanko were both named to the elite squad.
Lineman Kevin Marshall, linebacker Noah Usherwood and defensive back Drew Belgrave were all named to the all-defensive team.
W.J. Mouat’s Maleek Irons was named offensive MVP, while D lineman Austin Thorton of Lord Tweedsmuir was the MVP on defence.
