Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
St. Mary’s Knights continued their unbeaten start to the Sault Ste. Marie high school football season on Thursday, September 24th, earning a 38-6 victory over the White Pines Wolverines at Superior Heights Field. Entering the contest in first place at 2-0, the Knights came out quickly against the fourth-place Wolverines, who entered the game searching for their first win of the season.
St. Mary’s opened the scoring just 72 seconds into the game when quarterback Landon Chiarot connected on a 23-yard pass to Zyler Dougherty, who turned the play into a 30-yard major. Tyler Diluzio added the extra point to make it 7-0. At 6:41 of the opening quarter, Chiarot found Cohen Kellar on a 32-yard pass, with Kellar taking it 48 yards for another Knights touchdown. Diluzio converted again to extend the lead to 14-0. With 63 seconds remaining in the quarter, Emmett Thompson found Liam Corcoran on a three-yard pass, and Corcoran added another three yards to reach the end zone, making it 21-0 after another Diluzio conversion. Thompson continued the scoring early in the second quarter, connecting with Rylan Gillson on a 17-yard touchdown pass at 8:10 to put the Knights ahead 28-0. Less than two minutes later, Matteo Diluzio intercepted the Wolverines and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown, with Aleks Majic adding the conversion to make it 35-0.
White Pines responded in the third quarter when Lucian Talda-Chillman broke loose for a 32-yard touchdown run at 2:23. Oliver Bishop added the two-point conversion, bringing the Wolverines within 35-8. The Knights would add the only points of the fourth quarter when Tyler Diluzio connected on a 30-yard field goal with 9:43 remaining, completing the 38-6 victory and moving St. Mary’s to a perfect 3-0 record.
Following the game, St. Mary’s head coach Tony Boniferro praised the Wolverines and their coaching staff while highlighting the effort and leadership within his own team. Boniferro told SaultSports, “First of all, major props to White Pines. Coach Baz and his staff do an amazing job. They come out and battle every game. We have nothing but respect for the job those guys do.” He added that the Knights’ work ethic has been a major factor in their early success, noting that their leaders have consistently led by example. Boniferro also pointed to several players seeing their first high school football action, including Emmett Thompson at quarterback and Liam Evans, who made an important third-down catch to keep a drive alive.”
Despite the 3-0 start, Boniferro emphasized that the Knights still have plenty of room for improvement. “We need to get better in all areas of the game,” he said.
Visit Freeze Frame Photos by Bob Davies photo gallery of the Wolverines versus Knights in junior high school football action.
St. Mary’s will now turn its attention to the Korah Colts on Friday, October 2nd, with the Knights set to kick off at 5:30 p.m. at Superior Heights. The Wolverines will look for their first victory when they take on the Superior Heights Steelhawks at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 1st, also at Superior Heights Field.
