Canisius Beats St. Joe's to Complete Perfect Regular Season

Monsignor Martin League Champion Canisius Crusaders

            Any lingering questions about who is the best high school football team in Western New York were answered Saturday afternoon in front of more than 5,000 screaming fans at Robert T. Scott field.

            The Canisius Crusaders beat the St. Joe’s Marauders 28-21 Saturday to finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1976. Canisius (9-0, 5-0) was able to bounce back strongly after a disappointing first half to secure the victory.

            “It’s hard to put into words right now,” said Canisius head coach Rich Robbins after the game. “It takes us a while to get rolling, but we did when it counted, and (this was a) huge win for our program.”

            Robbins, who is usually pretty reserved after wins, let his emotions show after his team’s big win over their archrival.

            “We were down at half, and some of our kids, I questioned them at halftime.  I questioned our heart.  And they responded,” said Robbins. “I’m really, really proud of the way they came back, played a great second half and got a great win.”

            Canisius was able to come back in the second half due to the amazing performance of their star running back, junior Qadree Ollison.

            Ollison had 254 yards rushing in the second half alone. He finished the game with a single-game school record 344 rushing yards on 39 carries. Ollison had all four Crusader touchdowns on the day.

            “I wanted this as bad as anybody else on my team.  We all wanted it bad,” said a jovial Ollison after the game. “I tried to perform, and I tried to get my team the win.”

            Ollison was named game MVP for his record-breaking performance. His show of excellence was necessary on a day where heavy rain and high winds held the Canisius passing attack to zero yards for the game.

Qadree Ollison accepts his game MVP award

Senior offensive lineman Ryan Hunter was modest after the game, nodding toward Ollison before giving him all the credit for Saturday’s performance.

            “Qadree is a really good athlete," said Hunter. “Even if you don’t do your job properly, he’ll make you look good by making cuts and making people miss, and even just running people over.”

            Hunter was a key part of Canisius’ offensive line, which opened up huge holes in the second half for Canisius’ running game. After the game, Hunter issued a clear warning to Canisius’ playoff opponents.

            “We’re not going to be bullied this year, we’re going to be the ones bullying everybody else,” said the intimidating Hunter.

            The win Saturday snapped Canisius’ four game losing streak at the hands of the Marauders. St. Joe’s still leads the all-time series with a record of 47-31-3.

            Senior running back Ilo Noble had a big day for St. Joe’s, racking up 211 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown in the loss. Standout junior Rod Payne led the Marauders’ defense with 17 total tackles and a fumble recovery.

            The loss drops St. Joe’s (7-2, 3-2) to the third seed in the Monsignor Martin League playoff standings. The Marauders will host Cardinal O’Hara next week in the league quarterfinals.

            Canisius clinched the number one seed in the playoffs and a first round bye with the win.  Their next game will be a semi-final match in two weeks at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

            Hunter made it clear after the game that Canisius’ ultimate goal is to win a league championship, and anything short of that would not be acceptable.

            “We need to stay hungry and humbled, and look for what we really want which is a championship, and we don’t have that yet,” he said. “We’re going to be happy once we have that.”