By Bernie Puchalski - December 9, 2021
Like all high school boys basketball teams in Niagara, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior squad is a work in progress.
“It has been two years since we played and practices are one thing and games are another. They are completely different,” said Notre Dame’s Lucas Ponting, after scoring 22 points Thursday to lead his team to a 78-28 road victory over the Lakeshore Catholic Gators in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play.
The 6-foot-4 forward loves being back playing with his Irish teammates.
“They are your classmates and your friends,” he said. “It was definitely difficult not playing last year. School is not the same without sports.”
The 17-year-old Pelham Panthers travel player has high expectations for Notre Dame this season.
“I definitely think we can go to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship) because we are a really good team. We are big, we have people who can shoot and people who can drive. We have people on our team who can do everything.”
The Grade 12 student wants to continue working on his game this season.
“I have to keep getting stronger and working on everything, dribbling and shooting.”
Notre Dame head coach Mark Gallagher is happy to have Ponting on his roster.
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James Culic Niagara This Week - Welland
Saturday, December 4, 2021
The École Polytechnique tragedy saw 14 women murdered by a deranged man who thought only men belonged in engineering school. When students from Notre Dame College School in Welland commemorate the event with a vigil each year on the anniversary of the tragic event, they choose 15 young women as representatives.
Each student represents one of the 14 murdered women, and tells their story, while a 15th student acts a stand-in for all the victims of male violence against women that have been lost in the 32 years since the École Polytechnique massacre on Dec. 6, 1989.
“We do this to raise awareness among our student body, so that our students gain a better understanding of the tragic events that occurred that day,” said Notre Dame teacher Tanya Garofalo Cirone, who helps organize the event alongside fellow teacher Tara Markovich.
The event was cancelled last year for the first time because of the pandemic, and Markovich said they’re pleased to be able to bring it back this year.
“It’s important to commemorate the victims so we never forget what happened that day,” said Markovich.
By Bernie Puchalski - December 1, 2021
The final for the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association senior football championship was also a matchup of the league’s offensive and defensive MVPs.
In voting by the league’s five coaching staffs, Notre Dame had its quarterback Marshall McCray chosen as offensive MVP while Saint Paul linebacker Tyler Rankin was selected as the defensive MVP.
McCray expressed pleasure with winning the award when asked about it after his team won the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association Bowl last Wednesday with a 33-6 victory over the Westmount Wildcats.
“That sounds good but the OFSAA championship will sound even better next week,” the 17-year-old Welland resident said.
He ended up getting his wish Tuesday when the Irish thumped North Park Collegiate Trojans 50-7 in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ Central Bowl.
The six foot, 180-pound McCray felt he made great strides on the football field this season.
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By Bernie Puchalski - November 30, 2021
The third time was the charm for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team in Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations bowl play.
After losing 57-7 to St. Thomas More in the 2017 Golden Horseshoe Bowl and 47-6 to Chaminade College in the 2019 Metro Bowl, the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association champion Irish thumped North Park Collegiate Trojans 50-7 in the Central Bowl Tuesday afternoon on a snowy Bison Field in Brantford.
The Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association champion Trojans came into the game with an unbeaten 7-0 mark but were no match for the Irish who improved to 8-0 with the victory. Notre Dame led 36-0 at the half and 50-7 after three quarters.
Tal Ibrahim scored five touchdowns to lead the attack for Notre Dame, quarterback Marshall McCray added a one-yard TD run after setting it up with a 60-yard TD run and Dayshawn Johnson added a 62-yard pick six. It was Johnson’s third long interception return for a TD of the season.
Top performers for Notre Dame were: Ibrahim, 18 carries for 151 yards and a 38-yard reception; McCray, 8 of 11 passing for 111 yards and four carries for 97 yards, and TD and a two-point convert; Adrian D’Gyves, four catches 57 yards; Johnson, interception; Ezra Sylvester, fumble recovery; and, Jake Laewetz, six converts.
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By Bernie Puchalski - November 24, 2021
Over the past seven days, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team has rode the running of Tal Ibrahim and quarterback Marshall McCray to a pair of bowl victories.
Last Thursday, it was Ibrahim doing most of the leg work, contributing 18 carries for 149 yards and TD runs of six and 30 yards in 36-7 victory over the A.N. Myer Marauders in the Niagara Bowl. McCray added TD runs of one, 10 and 13 yards.
In Wednesday’s 33-6 victory over the Westmount Wildcats in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association Bowl, Ibrahim had 17 carries for 106 yards before leaving the game in the second half with an injury. McCray contributed 23-yard and 37-yard TD runs, the first coming on a fake field goal in the first quarter.
And while the pair’s running has been truly epic, it has been the play of Notre Dame’s defence which has really propelled the Irish to their best performances of the season. Notre Dame held Myer to five first downs and 138 yards of net offence and then stifled Westmount, giving up 217 net yards of offence and eight first downs, with a good chunk of that coming on the Wildcats’ last possession of the game.
“The film we had on them looked like they were running all over people and they got some big plays on us but for the most part we stuck with them and played hard,” Notre Dame head coach Tim Bisci said. “We gave up one touchdown when our offence wasn’t really working but the defence played tough all game.”
Leading the way for Notre Dame’s defence as he has done all season was defensive tackle Braydon Snider.
“He has been playing strong for us all year,” Bisci said. “He had a knee injury early but he has bounced back from that and he has been the anchor of our defensive line. Today was big for us when a team like that wants to pound the ball and they just couldn’t do it.”
Bisci likes everything about Snider.
“He is big and strong and his engine is running all the time. When you have a guy who can take on double teams, clog up the middle and beat them up, that is big for us.”
The 6-foot-1, 266-pounder has been playing football for the last 10 years.
“I love the intensity, I love the hitting and I love everything about it,” the 17-year-old said.
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