The Northgate defense did an impressive job holding Bishop Canevin at the beginning of last Friday’s home opener, but the Flames quickly found themselves unable to hold up against the conference powerhouse. Photo by Connie Rankin for The Citizen

By MEL PERKINS

The Northgate Flames (2-0) were shooting high Friday night, when they hosted the Crusaders from Bishop Canevin (2-0), but the fire was put out when the Crusaders defense rained on the Northgate parade. The Crusaders, who had given up only 6 points total in their two games this season, held Northgate scoreless, shutting them out 42-0.

Northgate kicked off to the Crusaders to start the game, and right off the bat the Flames snuffed out a very good Crusader offense, after allowing them only one first down before forcing them to punt.

The Flames' Cody Walter took a fair catch on the Northgate 12-yard line, and after a gain of two yards and two incomplete passes, the Flames had to punt from their own 14-yard line.

"We forced them to punt on their first series, and then they pinned us deep in our own territory," head coach T.J. Wiley said after the game.

The Crusaders took possession of the ball on the Northgate 37-yard line, and with that the tone of the game had been set. The Flames would suffer from bad field possession for almost the entire game.

From the Northgate 37, Canevin needed only three plays to put it in the Northgate end zone, and the extra point gave the Crusaders a 7-0 lead.

After the Canevin kick-off, the Flames again started deep in their own territory, on the 7-yard line. Northgate was quickly forced to punt, and Canevin took advantage by returning the punt 34 yards for a Crusaders' TD. Again, the extra point was good, and the Flames were down 14-0.

The first quarter would end with the Crusaders in command of a 21-0 lead.

Canevin tacked on another 14 points in the second quarter, and the Flames were in serious trouble being down 35-0 at the half.

The mercy rule kicked in, and the third quarter saw neither team able to put any points on the board. Canevin managed another touchdown in the fourth quarter. Their defense showed no signs of letting up, and they barely let the Flames get close enough to sniff the end zone.

"We respected their quarterback, and knew they had a good running game. They beat us up," Wiley said. "But, we fear no one, we came out and didn't change what we do."

Wiley said, "Our motto is: keep fighting, keep swinging and keep playing. Keep swinging ‘til you knock the opponent out. And I'm proud of our kids, because they kept fighting. Our kids handled themselves well."

Defensively, Mack Quinn led the team in tackles with 14, and Justin Parra followed him with eight tackles. Rob Jones, Joe Hughes, and Khalil Condon contributed heavily on defense also.

The Flames (2-1, 1-1) travel to Springdale Friday night to take on the Dynamos (2-1, 2-1).

When asked about their next week's opponent, Wiley said, "We are excited about getting back out there. We have to turn the page and keep moving. We are putting this loss behind us."