The St. Thomas More Knights will need their stoppers and more when they face the No. 1-ranked Mt. Douglas Rams in B.C. AAA varsity football this week.
The Knights put up big defensive numbers following a 35-21 win over Belmont in the first round of the varsity football playoffs at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West last Friday.
STM’s Drew Belgrave made a dozen individual tackles, and had a fumble recorvery for a touchdown, while free safety Anthony Carteri added 11 stops to slow down the Belmont running attack.
On the offensive side of the ball, STM quarterback Malcolm Lee rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns.
Shane Noel also rushed for more than 100 yards and a score, while Andrew Flett had 84 yards on the ground and one TD.
Early in the second half, Belmont appeared to have tied the game 13-13 on a short run, but the play was ruled no touchdown on what appeared to be an apparent error on the part of the line official.
Following the ensuing turnover on downs, Lee engineered a 98-yard scoring drive, including a 60-yard run that increased STM’s lead to 21-7.
“Our offence did a great job of putting up points fast, and our defence did a good job of getting good field position,” said Belgrave, who picked up a fumble in the Belmont backfield in the final quarter and raced into the end zone from 30 yards out to make the score 35-14 for the Knights.
But Belgrave is under no illusions what it will take to stop offensive MVP Marcus Davis and the No. 1 Rams.
“Open field tackling will be the difference,” said Belgrave. “Man on man, you can’t beat their offensive line. We have to outsmart them on defence.
“If we can cause turnovers, we can win the game.”
The Knights must travel to Victoria for a Friday matchup with the defending B.C. champion Rams.
