St. Clair Football Tops Beefeaters in London
The St. Clair Saints Football team moved to 4-0 with a 62-27 win over the Beefeaters at City Wide Sports Park in London Friday night. St. Clair is the top ranked team in the Canadian Junior Football League and sit atop the Ontario Football Conference standings.
The Saints got on the board two minutes into the game when quarterback Matthew Guenette (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) connected with receiver Jayden Shallow (Toronto, ON) for a 9-yard touchdown. Midway through the frame London responded with a field goal. Marselio Mendez (West, St. Paul, MN) pulled in a 1-yard throw from Guenette late in the first giving St. Clair a 14-3 lead headed to the second quarter. London pulled to within 14-10 early in the second after a rushing score but that would be as close as it would get the rest of the way.
The Saints started to create separation when Cameron St. Kitts-Park (Oshawa, ON) caught the first of his major scores on a 28-yard pass from Guenette. London conceded consecutive safeties before Guenette hit St. Kitts-Park for another 29-yard touchdown making it 32-10 at halftime.
On the opening kickoff of the second half St. Kitts-Park returned it 106 yards for another St. Clair major and his third touchdown of the game. London won the third quarter recording a passing touchdown and a rushing score but still trailed 39-24 heading to the final quarter. The deficit shrank further after a London field goal early in the fourth.
However, the Saints put up 23 points down the stretch including a 70-yard catch by Mendez followed by 35-yard interception return to the house by defensive back Nick Baeini (Leamington, ON/Cardinal Carter). London conceded another safety, and Shallow finalized the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown reception with two minutes to play.
Guenette finished with 325 passing yards completing 19-of-26 with six touchdowns while adding 34 rushing yards for the Saints. St. Clair running back MJ Doyle-Marshall (Airdrie, AB) gained 107 yards on the ground out of the backfield with Mendez needing just three catches for a team high 115 yards in pass receptions to go with his two majors. St. Kitts-Park caught six passes for 89 yards but added 10 yards on the ground to go with his 171 yards in kickoff returns totaling 270 in all-purpose yardage.
St. Clair placekicker Joe Newton-Grain (Oxford, England) converted all eight touchdowns for the Saints.
Tylin Davis (Windsor, ON/Herman) led the St. Clair defense with seven tackles and fellow defensive back Damari Joseph (Kitchener, ON) notched five tackles along with an interception.
St. Clair come home next weekend to host the Hamilton Hurricanes (3-1) at Acumen Stadium with kickoff set for 7:00pm Saturday night.
| OFC Regular Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| St. Clair Saints | 14 | 18 | 7 | 23 | 62 |
| London Beefeaters | 3 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 27 |