The Northern Red Knights can indeed put some points on the board. The high school senior boys’ football squad failed to score a major in its season opener, dropping a 7-3 decision to the Richview Saints back on Oct. 29. But it was a different story on Friday afternoon, however, as the Red Knights scored three touchdowns in the opening half and cruised to a 27-6 victory over the Western Tech Colts. That match was held at Scarborough’s Birchmount Stadium.
“It was a good game,” said George Gretes, who earned his first win as Northern’s head coach. “We came out firing. Everything seemed to be working and clicking for the offence, which is something that wasn’t working last week.” All of the Red Knights who were dressed were able to see some action. Gretes started subbing in players midway through the second quarter. Gretes was also pleased to see it wasn’t just the club’s offence that was contributing. “The defence was consistent,” he said. “There’s still some little things to work on but we’re becoming the team that we had hoped for about a month ago.”
Northern quarterback Josh Rosenfeld scored a running touchdown himself and threw TD passes to both Will Porter and Anders Hoffman. Red Knights’ kicker Matt Irvine took care of the rest of the scoring for his squad. He connected on all three of his extra-point attempts, booted a 38-yard field goal and also chipped in with three rouges. “It just feels awesome to be back out here,” Irvine said, commenting on the fact the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the team’s entire 2020 campaign and also delayed the start of this year’s season. “It’s super nice. It’s always great to get the first win.” Though Northern didn’t score any second-half touchdowns on Friday, Irvine said his squad still maintained its intensity throughout the match.
“We played some different guys but we still had our foot on the gas trying our best to get more points and extend our lead,” he said. Porter felt his teammates took a more serious approach to their encounter versus the Colts. “I really think the energy we came out with here right off the bat was a lot stronger than last game,” he said. “And I think even just getting ready, warming up and everything, there was a higher level of energy, a higher level of motivation and we just came out here ready to play.” The Colts, who are doing their best to build a strong program, are not quite in the same class as Richview, which traditionally fields a powerhouse squad. But Porter said his club had to be ready for its encounter with Western Tech. “We watched film on these guys,” he said. “We prepared really well and we were expecting a fight even though maybe the score didn’t reflect that. They fought and they played as good as they can and we played as good as we can. And the result is what it is.” Irvine echoed Porter’s sentiment about the fact the Red Knights were better prepared than they were in their season debut. “In the Richview game, we were kind of all over the place,” Irvine said. “In this game we came here much more organized. We played a much more faster, cleaner game than we did against Richview. And that’s what got us the win.”
The Red Knights return to action this coming Friday, Nov. 12, to square off against their hosts from St. Michael’s College.
Meanwhile, the Northern junior squad played its first game of 2021 on Friday at Birchmount Stadium, dropping a 35-22 decision to Unionville’s Bill Crothers Colts.
