By Bernie Puchalski - September 30, 2021
For the foreseeable future, whenever a high school quarterback in Niagara is able to beat teams with his arm and legs, comparisons will be made to former A.N. Myer great Tre Ford.
No one is saying Notre Dame quarterback Marshall McCray will be able to match Ford’s accomplishments but the Grade 11 quarterback sure looked good helping the Fighting Irish open the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association senior season with a 37-21 road victory over the Saint Paul Patriots. The 17-year-old Welland resident smiled when asked if he models his game after Ford.
“He’s actually my cousin,” the Grade 12 student said. “I have been watching ever since I was little and growing up and I am trying to be better than him.
“He set the bar high.”
The six-foot 180-pounder has been playing quarterback since he was seven years old, including stints in minor football, the Saint Paul junior team and with the Niagara Spears junior varsity squad.
He admitted it was odd playing against Saint Paul.
“It is a little unusual because I have been playing with them all my life but it was a great experience to play against them too. I had a lot of fun.”
For McCray and every player on the team, it felt awesome just to be playing football again.
“It feels great to be back out there after not playing for two years,” he said. “We got the nerves out of the way at the beginning and then we started rolling.”
During the pandemic, McCray and his friends trained almost every day on the field and working out.
“I feeI have gotten a lot better at throwing and I do a lot already with my legs. I can still get better at throwing and this team with its receiving corps, I think we can do great things.”
He is looking for one thing in particular this season.
“We want to go all the way and win a championship.”
Notre Dame head coach Tim Bisci liked what he saw Thursday from McCray.
“He is learning a new offence but he did very well,” he said. “We did a few different things and ran a read option with him and he’s picked it up.”
There was a lot of repetition prior to the game but it showed Thursday.
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By Bernie Puchalski - September 24, 2021
Notre Dame’s Michael Martel and Denis Morris’ Ben Hebert carded 77s Friday at Twenty Valley to top the boys division at the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association golf tournament.
Blessed Trinity’s Mya Mackey topped the girls division with a 99 and Blessed Trinity (Cole Thompson 78, Caleb Shorthouse 80, Hudson Mielko 81, John Kingdon 82, Ben Kelly 82) won the boys team title.
As a Grade 9 student at Denis Morris in 2019, Ben Hebert was low man on his team at the NCAA golf championships helping Denis Morris advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association championships.
On Friday, he took the next step, tying Martel for low medalist honours. The 16-year-old Thorold resident came in to the tournament on a high after finishing fourth overall this past summer in the under-19 division of the Niagara Junior Golf Tour.
“I definitely felt that I could have been better,” the Lookout Point member said. “I had a strong set of rounds but some people just had better days at those tournaments.”
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By Bernie Puchalski - September 2, 2021
When the Notre Dame senior football team last played in 2019, Anthony Battista was the starting centre for the Fighting Irish squad that qualified for its second Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association Bowl game in three seasons.
Fast forward two years and one COVID-19 pandemic later, the 17-year-old Welland resident was back on the field this week as the team went through its preseason training camp.
“It feels awesome. Last year we didn’t get to play but now we are back and I am just as excited as I was in 2019, unfortunately it’s not 2020,” the 12B student said.
Battista admitted it was tough to have school sports cancelled.
“I played hockey and football for Notre Dame and it all got cancelled last year and it kind of sucked,” he said. “You get excited about it and that’s what you do when you come to school on the first day. You play football. It was difficult but I am just happy we are back out now.”
Rather than sit there and feel sorry for himself, Battista stayed busy.
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By Bernie Puchalski - August 17, 2021
Callan Saldutto was having an up-and-down season in his first year of being a full-ride scholarship athlete at the University of Louisiana Monroe when he arrived at the prestigious Texas Relays in late March in Austin, Texas.
“I won the B group with a huge PB (personal best) of 69.46 metres in javelin,” the 19-year-old Welland native said. “My old PB was 61 something.”
Not content with that personal best, the Notre Dame graduate one-upped himself in mid-May at the Sunbelt Conference championships in Mobile, Ala.
“I PBed again. I threw 69.88 and I got second there. That was another big one.”
The throw garnered the four-time Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations medalist not only a sliver medal but it also surpassed the 69.5-metre standard required for Saldutto to attend the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships.
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Good afternoon:
As you may have heard today, the Ontario Government has announced plans for a safe return to school for September. Many things will remain in place from last year as we reopen on September 7, such as the need to wear masks indoors for all students in Grades 1-12. Other things will change, such as allowing students to play outdoors without masks and in mixed cohorts during lunches and recess.
Secondary students will attend school all-day, Monday to Friday (no cohorts). Plans are being discussed how to safely implement a return to extracurricular activities like sports, band, choir and other clubs for both elementary and secondary students. You will learn more about that in coming weeks, as information is made available.
Virtual learning is permitted again in 2021-2022. Secondary families have already submitted plans for student attendance next year. Elementary families will be contacted about their final choice next week. We look forward to welcoming the majority of our students back to school for in-person learning.
The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Niagara Region Public Health continue to promote vaccinations for students aged 12-17 and staff, but they are not required to return to school or work in September.
The Ministry of Education has allowed local public health units to provide insight and to place their own recommended measures on schools in their communities. We will work closely with Niagara Region Public Health to balance the need to begin returning to a more normal school year with the need for continued vigilance as the Delta variant remains strong in Ontario. We expect to have more detailed information for you next week, after we meet with Public Health.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work towards a safe and happy 2021-2022 school year for everyone.
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