The St. Thomas More Knights wrapped up the B.C. high school football Eastern conference title in what could have been billed as a AAA varsity player of the year preview.
Knights quarterback Mikey Carney threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 71 yards as STM outscored the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers 38-28 on Seniors Night at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-West on Friday.
On the other side of the ball, Panther pivot Mike Messenger had a role in all but 31 of the team's 281 total yards, not including a 90-yard kickoff return in the second quarter for one his three touchdowns against the Knights.
But individual comparisons aside, the game should not have been as close as it was.
After forcing Tweedsmuir to punt on its first possession, Carney hit Grade 11 receiver Giovanni Trasolini for a 46-yard touchdown pass.
On the next possession, Carney engineered a nine-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Elliot Nelson crashing into the end zone from five yards out for a 14-0 lead.
Dante Vigini and Felix Gacusana then teamed up for STM's third of six quarterback sacks on the night to force the Surrey squad into yet another kicking situation.
But on the next series, things began to go a little wrong for the Knights.
Carney had his ensuing punt blocked by Damani Valentine on the STM 20-yard line and four plays later Messenger scored from four yards out.
Carney struck right back with a 72-yard pass-and-run to Trasolini, who outpaced the secondary into the end zone with his high school track championship speed.
On the kickoff, Messanger showed his elusiveness, running the ball back to keep the Panthers within a single score.
When STM got the ball, Carney was unlucky to be intercepted when a pass attempt was deflected at the line of scrimmage. That led to a tie-scoring run from Messanger, who also ran in a two-point conversion to tie the score 22-22 with just over one minute left to play.
But with 4.4 seconds left in the opening half, Justin Siglos booted a short field goal to give the home team a three-point edge after Carney took the Knights 60 yards in eight plays to get into scoring position.
STM nearly doubled Tweedsmuir in total yards, garnering close to 500 yards in offence to the Panthers' 281 total yards.
Nelson, who was in on three of STM's sacks on the QB, led the team in rushing with 91 yards. Trasolini had four catches for 169 yards and two scores.
"(Tweedsmuir) played a pretty good game. We played well offensively, but our special teams need work," said STM head coach Bernie Kully.
STM got back to business to begin the second half with Alex Golding taking a 35-yard Carney pass into the end zone to stretch the lead to nine points.
Siglos then finished off the Knights' scoring with a 10-yard reception for a score to end the third quarter.
Tweedsmuir scored off a second Carney punt attempt that was blocked by Valentine midway through the final period.
"We need to have a better game than this," said STM senior lineman Matt Evans after the game.
And Kully had to agree.
"We can't take a play or a moment for granted. It can come back really quick against you," Kully said. "There are a lot of spots we have to clean up. We will look at the film and see what we did well and what we did right."
The Knights have a bye in the first week of playoffs.
STM will play the winner of East 3 Centennial, 29-0 winners over Terry Fox, and the New Westminster Hyacks, 21-14 winners over West Vancouver in a must-win Western conference playoff matchup for both schools.
