HONOLULU— Led by the performance of running back Nick Osho, Burnaby’s St. Thomas More Knights hit the ground running Saturday night in Hawaii, and now they hope to keep their stride as they return to B.C. for this coming Friday’s official start to the 2019 provincial high school football season.
As well, senior Alex Cordeiro caught a touchdown pass and led the his team in tackles, all part of a 56-14 loss to the undefeated Div. 1 Damien Monarchs (4-0) at Skippa Diaz Stadium.
“We have to give full credit to coach Eddie Klaneski and the Damien Monarchs for being an outstanding team and even better hosts,” said Knights head coach Steve De Lazzari. “In spite of the result, there were definitely a lot of positive we will take from the game and even more so from the experience the boys have had over the past week here in Hawaii.”
Adjusting to the heat and playing an undefeated team playing its fourth game of the season made for a tall order, and Damien was outstanding on both sides of the ball en route to building a 19-0 first-quarter lead.
STM put together a sustained drive early in the second quarter, capped when Grade 11 starting quarterback Anthony De Lazzari fired an eight-yard scoring strike to Cordeiro.
De Lazzari finished 11-of-18 for 172 yards.
Also a Grade 11, Osho carried 10 times for 131 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Senior Marc Abboud carried seven times for 55 yards before leaving the game with a second-quarter injury.
Gabe Nacario caught three passes for 90 yards, while Cordeiro caught four passes for 40 yards and Josh Lunot three for 34 yards.
Cordeiro topped all STM tackles with five. Rickey Parsons, Lunot and Matteo Fernandez all registered four tackles each. Julian Lui had three tackles along with an interception.
“We will have to shift gears quickly with a short week to prepare for Notre Dame,” De Lazzari said of this Friday’s traditional rivalry game against the Jugglers (7:30 p.m.) at Burnaby Lakes.
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