By Larry Moko
It's not easy corralling a couple of Longhorns that are running free.
Just ask the Bishop Tonnos Titans.
During the 2024 Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference championship high school football game, running backs Nick Honchar and Xavier Niles of the Corpus Christi Longhorns rushed for a combined 407 yards and four touchdowns.
With that strong ground game, the Halton Catholic champions shook off a late comeback attempt to defeat the visiting Titans, 35-21, Tuesday.
It was the second consecutive year the same two teams have faced each other on the same field in Burlington with the same outcome.
"We were really concerned about how well we could run the ball," Corpus Christi coach Matt Mucera said. "It was working pretty well for us, though, so we stuck with it."
Honchar and Niles each took numerous direct snaps from centre. Honchar carried 20 times for 257 yards and three touchdowns while Niles accumulated 150 yards and a TD on 15 carries.
"They're fantastic," Mucera said of his dynamic duo of No. 40 and No. 20. "They've dealt with really tough injuries all year and luckily they've gotten healthy at the right time for us to be able to run the ball properly."
The final score was deceiving. The three-time defending Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic league champions put together a potential game-tying drive in the late stages. Trailing by seven points with 75 seconds remaining, Tonnos advanced to the Longhorns 40-yard line before defensive back Thomas Lio intercepted a Hudson Taylor pass near a sideline at the 26.
Honchar then bolted through Titan tacklers for a 77-yard insurance touchdown run.
"We knew what we were up against," Tonnos coach Anthony Tassone said. "They're probably one of the bigger lines you'll see in Ontario and they used it to their advantage. They were successful in running the ball.
"I thought we made some adjustments and more often than not were able to stop them in the second half. Then they had a few plays that got away from us."
The lone touchdown of the first half for Tonnos came as a result of a five-yard pass from Taylor to Kaleb-Horvat Rankin.
Corpus Christi then broke a 7-7 tie and grabbed a big third-quarter advantage when Honchar scored from 18 yards, Niles dashed into the end zone from 45 yards and quarterback Jack Douthwright passed 35 yards to Iverson Brown for a major.
The Titans, however, responded with two touchdowns of their own -- a 90-yard kickoff return by Joseph Cafagna and a 20-yard scoring strike from Taylor to Jackson Brown.
"It was a tough loss for our guys, no doubt about it," Tassone said. "We were hoping for a different outcome today. I thought we played fairly well. The third quarter got away from us but we rallied back in the fourth quarter. We fell just a little short."
Both teams entered the contest unbeaten in their eight starts this season. With the win, Corpus Christi advances to an OFSAA Festival Bowl game in Windsor next week.
"They (the Titans) are absolutely the most put together team we've played all year," the Longhorns coach said "They're excellent. They have great players, a great offence and a great scheme.
"We were lucky to be at home for this game. Tonnos has an amazing football program."
Taylor completed 12 of 20 passes for 149 yards and rushed six times for 61 yards.
Statistics courtesy of John Metcalfe.
Photos by Richard Andoga
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