HIGH ACHIEVERS: Fourth-quarter timeouts play big role in St. Mark winning second National Capital Bowl

By Martin Cleary

Timeouts are a valuable coaching tool for managing a football game. They’re generally used towards the end of a game, when the score is tight, time is running out and the right play must be called and executed.

But St. Mark High School head coach Andrew Castellarin went against the grain once and played it by the book another time Wednesday as his two well-devised, fourth-quarter timeouts served as the backbone for his Lions’ second OFSAA National Capital Bowl championship.

Castellarin called a timeout early in the final quarter of the Lions’ OFSAA Football Bowl Series game in Guelph against the Monsignor Paul Dwyer Saints of Oshawa and it triggered a magical moment for the boys from Manotick.

A second timeout saw the Lions surrender a two-point team safety late in the fourth quarter to help preserve its first OFSAA bowl title since 2006.

A combination of determination by the St. Mark offence and the undisciplined play of the Dwyer defence allowed the Lions to score the game-winning touchdown, which eventually led to a 22-17 victory and the school’s first National Capital Bowl championship in 19 years. St. Mark also was a National Capital Bowl finalist in 2001.

St. Mark and Dwyer were deadlocked 15-15 in the dying seconds of the third quarter. The Lions were given a premier opportunity, when Dwyer’s Kamron Mitchell’s third-down punt travelled only 19 yards and gave St. Mark ball possession on the Saints’ 39-yard line.

After Kohlman McIntyre ran for eight yards and Dimitri Pondi eked out almost another yard, the St. Mark offence faced a critical, third-and-long-one moment on the Dwyer 31-yard line. There were many options. Punt? Field goal attempt? Pass? Run?

Castellarin needed some time with his coaching staff and players to make the right call. A passing play was called and quarterback Dylan Danby made a quick toss to Danylo Ostapyk for the necessary first-down yards, but the receiver was thrown out of bounds in a rough manner. Dwyer was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty and the ball was moved to the Saints’ eight-yard line.

On the next play, Danby’s pass to Ostapyk in the end zone was incomplete. But the officials again penalized Dwyer for illegal contact and placed the ball on the Saints’ three-yard line.

McIntrye was given the ball on a first-and-goal situation and gained two yards. St. Mark tried to upset the Dwyer defence on the one-yard line as Danby shifted from the shotgun position, approached the centre and then stepped away to let receiver Ostapyk take the snap. This second-down manoeuvre led to an offside penalty against Dwyer.

With the Lions facing another first-and-goal opportunity, Ostapyk charged straight ahead for a one-yard touchdown, which eventually was the game-winning touchdown of the match. Abbas Gedeon kicked the convert for the seven-point lead.

“It was third and a long one. We were split, whether to pass or run, quarterback sneak or pass,” Castellarin said in a phone interview about his first timeout as the Lions enjoyed a dinner break, while travelling home by bus.

“We decided to pass and luckily we converted it. We were happy it worked out.”

While St. Mark had a seven-point lead, there were still 10 minutes left in the game. On the Lions’ next possession, Peddie Colton had his third-down punt blocked by Mekhi Dada and Dwyer appeared to have another life, starting on the St. Mark 37-yard line.

Dwyer quarterback Will Pereira kept the ball on the ground and reached the St. Mark 13-yard line with less than three minutes remaining. But on a third-down-and-inches situation, the ball was fumbled on the snap and Dwyer turned the ball over on downs.

With less than two minutes remaining and situated on their own 13-yard line, St. Mark used its final timeout to get out of trouble by conceding a team safety and having Dwyer take possession on its own 35-yard line. Colton took the third-down snap, headed for the end zone and ran some time off the clock before giving Dwyer two points.

In its final two possessions, Dwyer turned the ball over twice, including a wild game-ending play, where seven different players lateraled the ball to one another until a forward pass ended the game and signalled victory for St. Mark.

“We didn’t have the best first half,” Castellarin indicated. “We were nervous. In the second half, we lightened up, loosened up and they showed their true colours. We got a touchdown and the defence kept us in the game.

“At halftime, we told the players they had nothing to lose … lay it all out, fly around and be ourselves. That’s when we are at our best. We were more vocal on the sidelines and cheering. It was very quiet in the first half and on the bus ride to the game.”

The OFSAA National Capital Bowl banner was presented at centre field to St. Mark’s five captains – McIntyre and Theo Gonsalves, who are both seniors, Ostapyk, Colton and Eddie Jaquemet.

The game started with a light rain, which caused havoc for both teams – a Dwyer third-down turnover, St. Mark gave up an interception and Dwyer fumbled and lost the ball.

St. Mark snapped the string of turnovers by converting that fumble recovery into a one-yard touchdown as running back Dimitri Pondi dove into the end zone. Gedeon kicked the convert.

Dwyer countered with a one-yard quarterback sneak by Pereira and Mitchell booted the game-tying convert for a 7-7 score early in the second quarter.

The Lions, who took few penalties and made three interceptions in the game, fell behind in the third quarter, when wide receiver Isaiah Batista Dos Santos took a reverse pitch from running back and two-way star David Nosa and ran 68 yards for a Dwyer touchdown. A botched convert kick attempt turned into a two-point play, when Lucas Morra took a pass from Pereira for a 15-7 advantage.

St. Mark immediately responded to deadlock the game 15-15, when Danby twice scrambled out of pressure to find a wide-open McIntyre for a 62-yard pass-and-run touchdown. McIntyre also caught a two-point convert pass from Danby deep in the corner of the end zone.

The victory was the seventh OFSAA bowl championship for National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association teams in 18 appearances. St. Mark, St. Peter and St. Matthew now have two bowl titles each, while Ashbury also has one provincial high school football title.

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