Football Opens Season with Blowout Win Over London

London, ON - The St. Clair Saints Football team opened the 2024 season with a 37-7 blowout win over rival London Beefeaters on Saturday afternoon at City Wide Sports Park in London. A large contingency of Saints fans travelled to London to watch the team advance to 1-0 on the season.

A dominant performance by the Offensive and Defensive Line allowed the game to be controlled by the Saints from the opening kickoff until the final whistle. The Saints outgained the Beefeaters by 359 yards which was led by a rushing attack from St. Clair that gained 381 yards rushing. 34 first downs were gained by the Saints while London was only able to move the chains 13 times.

A familiar face to Saints Nation scored the first touchdown of the year, M.J Doyle-Marshall (Airdrie, AB) punched in a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Saints their first lead of 2024. A short field goal to open the second quarter gave the Saints a 9-0 lead but then moments later Doyle-Marshall scored his second touchdown of the game extending the lead to 16-0. Doyle-Marshall finished the game with 143 rushing yards on 11 attempts. The last drive of the first half was capped off by a short shovel pass by Quarterback Maurice Sodja (Louisville, Kentucky) to WR Tai Colquhoun (Windsor, ON) who took it 45-yards to the endzone giving the Saints a 23-7 lead at the half.

To open the second half a new but soon to be known Saint scored his first touchdown of the season, Cam St. Kitts-Park (Oshawa, ON) caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Sodja extended the lead to 30-7. Sodja was not done just yet when he tallied a 9-yard rushing touchdown of his own. Sodja had himself an impressive opening game in the passing and rushing attack, totaling 3 touchdowns while completing 11 of 16 passes for 185 yards, and gaining 131 yards rushing in the win.

The defense was led by newcomers Jaylin Burnett (South St. Paul, Minnesota) and Kendy Montoban (Paris, France) while returnees Gaddy Kazadi (London, ON), Carl Fabre (Windsor, ON) and Nick Carter (Sault Ste. Marie) were all solid in the blowout.  

The Saints are back in action next weekend for their Home Opener as they host the Quinte Skyhawks at Acumen Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.