Photo courtesy of Joanna Kurowski Photography

#2 London Beefeaters @ #1 St. Clair Saints – Saturday October 21, 7:00pm – Acumen Stadium | WATCH HERE

This Saturday marks the fourth straight season the Saints and Beefeaters meet in the Ontario Conference championship game.  The Saints won last year, while the Beefs took the title in the previous two meetings.

The Saints won both games of the seasonal series when they faced each other in back-to-back weekends.  In their first meeting in London the Saints used their outstanding defence to hold the Beefeaters to 195 yards of total offence, 58 of those yards through the air in a 33-17 win.  Conversely the Saints threw for 317 yards and quarterback Maurice Sodja connected on three touchdown strikes.

During their matchup the following weekend both teams chewed up the yards offensively as the defences struggled in a Saints 40-36 win in Windsor.  The Saints scored the only points of the fourth quarter to secure the victory as running back MJ Doyle-Marshall punched it in from seven-yards out with 10 minutes to go.

Offensively the teams combined for 957 yards, the biggest chunk coming from the Beefeaters run game as they galloped for 357 yards on 38 carries.  Ly Dyer rushed 16 times for 140 yards and a touchdown while Geoff Clubine collected 141 yards on 13 carries.

Saturday’s game will come down to the Conference’s top offence (Saints) against the stingiest defence (Beefeaters).  The Saints will need to focus on the Beefeaters running attack with the two-headed monster of Dyer and Clubine, while their defence must be aware of the Saints passing orchestrated by All-Star quarterback Sodja.

The rosters are littered with Ontario Conference All-Stars so most expect this game to come down to the wire like it has in previous years.  The winner advances to the CJFL National Semi-Final game that will be played in either Saskatoon or Regina. 

Head-to-Head

Records: Beefeaters 6-2 – Saints 8-0
Avg Points For: Beefeaters 38.6 – Saints 45
Avg Points Allowed: Beefeaters 12.6 - Saints 14

Passing Leaders: George Denniss – 32 of 58 for 452 yards and 4 touchdowns (Beefeaters) – Maurice Sodja – 44 of 73 for 898 yards and 11 touchdowns (Saints)

Rushing Leaders: LJ Dyer – 135 carries for 1158 yards and 9 touchdowns (Beefeaters) – MJ Doyle-Marshall – 64 carries for 593 yards and 7 touchdowns (Saints)

Receiving Leaders: Jagger Horst – 21 receptions for 344 yards and 2 touchdowns (Beefeaters) – Javier Lewis – 20 receptions for 536 yards and 7 touchdowns (Saints)

Leading Tacklers: N’Kosi Stewart – 17 tackles (Beefeaters) – Keewone Parker – 19 tackles (Saints)