Christmas came early for Tim Bisci and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior football team.

It was late in the summer when the head football coach heard from Justin Savoie’s father that he was moving to Welland and he was wondering if his son was eligible to play with the Irish.

“I told him he had to follow the OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) transfers and he did it. He moved to Welland and I was ‘This is pretty good.’ ”

Pretty good was an understatement judging by Savoie’s play Friday in the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association home opener against the visiting Holy Cross Raiders.

Savoie rushed for 86 yards on 11 carries and scored three majors.

“He stepped in and without being arrogant he took over a leadership role. He gets guys going and he speaks his mind when he has to and it has been great,” Bisci said. “He doesn’t do stupid things, he wants to win so desperately and you see that when he plays and when he talks to guys.”

Savoie is like a coach on the field and you can hear him yelling instructions to his teammates.

“He takes control and he understands stuff. He is a smart football player and he has a good football mind.”

Bisci feels Savoie has a lot of upside given his abilities.

“He is an unstoppable player.”

The 17-year-old admits it wasn’t easy to transfer to Notre Dame from Sir Winston Churchill.

“It was a tough decision but two of my best friends, Brady (Pupek) and Quinn (Johnston), went to Western so I was already losing them. And another one of my friends went to the London Beefeaters team,” the 12B student said.

Click here to read the full article on BP Sports Niagara.