Lancers and Saints win

The Windsor Lancers know who they are and their identity was on full display during their season opener at McMaster Saturday night. Quarterback Danny Skelton (18-31, 198 yards) threw two touchdown passes and ran in another as the Lancers beat the Marauders 21-17. "Our run game is our identity." said head coach J-P Circelli who used eight different players to run the ball 38 times for 178 yards. "When push comes to shove we rely on our offensive line and stable of running backs to convert 3rd downs, keep drives alive and wear out our opponents defence."

Success on the ground opened things up for Skelton who threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Colby Ginn with 2:40 left in the game for the lead. The Lancers relied on Chris John (14 rushes for 74 yards) and Joey Zorn (10 carries for 60 yards) to wear down the clock to preserve the victory. "I was impressed with our team’s resiliency throughout the night." Circelli said. "To travel to Hamilton and beat a good McMaster team was no easy task. We overcame several deficits by forcing turnovers at key times and capitalized on our opportunities to put points on the board."

Check out some of the highlights below courtesy of the OUA.

https://vimeo.com/858466417

The St. Clair football team is coming home 2-0 after winning their second straight road game to start the season. They defeated the London Beefeaters 33-17. "Any win on the road is a great win." said head coach Mike Lachance. "It was ugly at times and we really had to overcome some confusing officiating but the season is long and we will have those obstacles. I’m happy the kids could lock in when it mattered most."

The Saints were flagged for 24 penalties for 210 yards in the game. A highlight was this touchdown catch by rookie Darius France. Check it out below courtesy of the CJFL.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/0be2db_b1e0d24a250645659527d677b2e47f89/480p/mp4/file.mp4

"Darius France is an incredible athlete. He hasn’t even scratched the surface on what he will become." said Lachance who was impressed with the way his offence played despite missing key starters. "We grinded when we had to. Our OL has 3 starters out with injury including all Canadian Jaden Caston. The others stepped up and really did a nice job of getting off the ball and giving us opportunities to move the ball on the ground when we had to.

Quarterback Maurice Sodja ran eight times for 89 or the team's 178 rushing yards. The 1st year pivot out of Louisville, Kentucky also threw touchdown passes to Javier Lewis and Zack Burmaster. Lewis also scored on a one-yard plunge for the other Saints TD.

St. Clair will host London in their home opener at Acumen Stadium September 2nd at 7pm.

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