Saints Survive Thriller in Home Opener

Windsor, ON – The Football home opener lived up to the hype as 1,000+ Saints Nation fans packed Acumen Stadium to see the Saints defeat the Beefeaters 40-36 in a high scoring affair. The Saints are now 3-0 on the season.

Fans in attendance did not have to wait long to see some scoring, as the Beefeaters jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game. It only took the Saints 1:20 to answer when QB Matt Guenette (Windsor, ON) hit WR Darius France for a 59-yard touchdown reception. London struck right back with a 75-yard touchdown run of their own to retake the lead and at the end of the first quarter led 17-8.

The second quarter started just like the first ended, with points. This time 37 seconds into the quarter Running Back M.J Doyle-Marshall (Airdrie, AB) took a hand off and broke up the middle for a 61-yard touchdown run that erupted Acumen Stadium and gave the fans a much-needed boost. Within 2 minutes of that score, the Saints defense forced a quick punt, that led to Guenette hitting Receiver Javier Lewis (Toronto, ON) for an 82-yard touchdown catch and run giving the Saints their first lead of the game 23-17. This was Lewis' only catch of the game but kept his touchdown streak alive on the young season. A couple of impressive kicks by the London kicker gave the Beefeaters the lead 26-23 with 2 minutes left to go in the half. The Saints offense got themselves into field position for a chance to tie the game. Kicker Preston Knight (Leamington, ON) hit his first field goal of the year from 33-yards and saw the scored tied at 26 a piece.

Enzey Youyoute (Mississauga, ON) opened the second half on a mission as he returned the kickoff for 59-yards, breaking multiple tackles. A few plays later he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Guenette where he bounced off Beefeater defenders and gave the Saints a 33-26 lead. Guenette had a great bounce back game where he finished throwing 9-13 for 244 yards and 3 passing touchdowns. London answered the quick start and held the Saints scoreless for the rest of the quarter, a field goal and a touchdown saw the Beefeaters take a 36-33 into the fourth.

However, in the fourth quarter both defenses tightened up and slowed the game down. The Saints defense started to get constant pressure on the Beefeaters Quarterback wearing down the London Offensive Line. The Saints defense was led by Linebacker Keewone Parker (Lansing, Michigan, USA) who registered a game high 6 tackles and 4 assisted tackles. With only minutes to go in the game Tristan Rutherford (Windsor, ON) returned a punt for 40-yards putting the Saints offense in great field position. The short field drive was capped off by Doyle-Marshall getting to the outside for a 7-yard touchdown run, giving the Saints a 40-36 lead. Doyle-Marshall finished the game with 177 rushing yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns. A few big plays by the defense closed out the game, one of them being a sack by Linebacker Rudy Bukich (St. Thomas, ON).

The Saints will now look forward to hosting Homecoming next Saturday, September 9^th at Acumen Stadium as they take on the visiting Hamilton Hurricanes. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.