In a contest that featured an endless array of plot twists and turns, no single player would be twisting and turning better than shifty St Charles College Cardinals running back Noah Arsenault.
The ultra-elusive ball carrier ran for three touchdowns and was the focal point of a come-from-behind 55-44 SCC senior boys semi-final win over the Confederation Chargers in a game in which the defending champs from Val Caron were up 29-7 with more than three minutes to play in the opening quarter.
"Our O Line did their job; everybody did their job and that's what matters," said Arsenault. "I just had to find the holes, hit the holes, follow my blockers and lay down the shoulder."
Things were not looking good in the first quarter. Unable to contain the ground game of the Chargers, St Charles fell behind early as Confederation drives led to touchdowns from Evan Doyle (runs of 3 and 43 yards), Ryley Clarke (13 yards) and Tyson Vitali (20 yards).
The only counter-punch the Cards would offer early was a 95 yard kickoff return by Emmanuel Appiah-Hagan which temporarily had the game sitting close at 8-7 for Confed. The teams traded majors early in the second quarter, the first Arsenault score (7 yard TD run) offset by the third of the day for Evan Doyle (20 yard run), leaving the scoreboard reading 29-7 - as noted above.
Minutes earlier, however, Ryley Clarke was felled by an ankle injury - and Doyle would follow suit not long after, neither returning to the game.
Settling in at quarterback as the linemen from Confed began to tire, St Charles pivot Nolan Larche hooked up with Evan Wallace from 13 yards out (with 2:26 to play) and then with Appiah-Hagan on a spectacular grab covering 24 yards (0:50 to play) - and one could sense the momentum shifting.
"We knew that something was changing then and we knew we could get them," said Arsenault. In a sense, it mirrored the emotion on the St Charles sideline following the 42-42 tie with Confederation that kicked off the 2026 fall schedule.
"As soon as that happened, we knew that this wasn't the SCC of other years," said Arsenault. "It's our year this year. We want it bad."
Still, the Chargers had some fight left, with Jacob Doyle pounding it home from the three midway through the third, leaving the scoreboard reading 44-28. That, however, was the end of the scoring for the Green and Gold.
Late in the quarter, Harrison Markiewich hauled in a Larche offering from ten yards out and with just over a minute gone in the fourth, Fahad Abdulrahman made it a three point game (44-41), rambling home from the six.
The nail in the coffin, however, would fittingly come from the young man who garnered a host of admiring fans on both sides Friday afternoon as Noah Arsenault scored the game-winning touchdown with 6:29 left, adding an insurance major, just for good measure.
The result means that St Charles and the St Benedict Bears will meet for the first time this year in the city finals, their regular season game falling victim to the cancellation of Friday evening football - and after the Bears stopped the Lo-Ellen Park Knights 24-7 in the nightcap.
"We have to come back next week with the same energy, bring it all back," said Arsenault - which won't be easy given the adrenaline rush of their semi-final victory.
The second semi-final would see St Benedict jump out to a 17-0 lead, surrender a late touchdown on special teams just before half but close things down nicely in the final 24 minutes of play for the win.
Holden Beange (8 yard pass from Evan DeMarchi), Keegan Adair (12 yard pass from DeMarchi) and Evan DeMarchi (5 yard run) delivered the six-point plays for St Benedict, with Gabe Matozzo adding a field goal and three converts.
Byron Marshall scampered 75 yards on the kickoff following the Adair major to put Lo-Ellen on the board, with Bradley Veevers splitting the uprights with the PAT.
The Cardinals and Bears will kick things off Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at the James Jerome Sports Complex, with St Charles looking to capture the Copper Cliff Jewellers Trophy for the first time since 2016 and St Benedict slightly more recent, winning it all in 2019.
