Saints Advance to OFC Final with Win Over Ottawa

Windsor, ON – The St. Clair Saints Football team has punched their ticket to the OFC Championship game after defeating the Ottawa Sooners 29-3 in the OFC Semi-Final game at Acumen Stadium.

A cold and rainy night at Acumen Stadium saw the defenses take advantage of the offensive struggle in the first half. A big game from Kicker Preston Knight (Leamington, ON) had the Saints up 9-1 headed into the half, as he hit field goals from 19, 28 and 31 yards.

As the skies cleared and the night got colder, the Saints offense started to heat up in the second half. Quarterback Maurice Sodja (Louisville, Kentucky, USA) scrambled out of the pocket, broke a few tackles and sprung free for a 44-yard touchdown run to give the Saints a 16-1 lead. Knight hit another field goal, this time from 36 yards to extend the lead 19-1. Ottawa forced a safety late in the third quarter and the Saints took a 19-3 lead headed into the fourth.

Knight wasn't done just yet, as he hit another 32-yard field goal as he finished his perfect night going 5 for 5 on field goal attempts and 2 for 2 on extra points. With a 22-3 lead with less than 3 minutes to go, the game was put away when Sodja hit Wideout Kevin Laryea (London, England, UK) for the 19-yard touchdown pass and no better time for his first touchdown as a Saint. Sodja finished as the games leading passer and rusher in a much-needed performance, he threw for 101 yards while completing 6 of 11 passes and ran 14 times for 124 yards.

The Saints defense was dominant all night as they only allowed 96 yards passing and 61 yards rushing to the Sooners offense. The defense also forced timely turnovers when they needed them most. All-Star Linebacker Keewone Parker (Lansing, Michigan, USA) led the team in tackles with 7 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle, he also registered a sack. Defensive Lineman Mo Ibraheem (Etobicoke, ON) wreaked havoc on the offensive line has he had 3 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 2 tackles for losses and a sack. The secondary forced a few turnovers in the second half; DB Nick Baeini (Leamington, ON) forced a fumble that was recovered by DB Gaddy Kazadi (London, ON) and All-Star DB Nathaniel Norton (Windsor, ON) ball hawked another interception.

With the win, the Saints have set themselves up for another edition of the OFC Championship game against the London Beefeaters, this time it will be the Saints as the defending champs. The game will be held at Acumen Stadium on Saturday, October 21^st. Kick-off is set for 7:00pm.