Griffins make history
TASSS football win over Stangs first in about two decades and clinches at least a tie for first place
For the first time in many years the Kawartha high school senior football league is not a two-team race.
The Thomas A. Stewart Griffins defeated the Crestwood Mustangs for what is believed to be the first time in 20 years, 14-3 at Crestwood Secondary School on Friday afternoon.
For almost two decades senior football has been dominated by Crest wood and the Adam Scott Lions. The Griffins have knocked off both teams and at 5-1, with their regular season complete, have clinched at least a share of first place. Crestwood (4-1) face Holy Cross Hurricanes on Wednesday and Fenelon Falls Falcons (4-1) face Adam Scott Lions (2-2) on Thursday.
If there is a three-way tie for first place Crestwood will finish first based on giving up the fewest points in the games between the three teams. The Falcons would take second. If it’s a two-way tie the Griffins take first over Crestwood based on Friday’s win. If it’s TASSS and Fenelon Falls tied, the Falcons take first for handing TASSS it’s only loss 16-10.
It appears the Kawartha title is as wide open as its been since the mid=1990s when TASSS was last a factor. Since then it’ s been Crest wood and Adam Scott dominating.
“I don’t think this means we’re better than them, we were better than them today,” said Griffins coach Jeff Challice. “I expect the next time we play them they’re going to give us a great game and we’re going to try to battle with them the best we can. They’re full of veterans and we’re full of young kids.”
The Griffins are powered by a strong group of Grade 11 players who were the core of a junior COSSA championship last year, the school’s first COSSA football win in more than two decades.
“We had a very good group of kids come up from junior and they’ve all stepped into starting roles at senior and it’s been great to see,” Challice said.
Crestwood took a 3-0 lead on a 15-yard field goal by Zach Aucoin early in the second-quarter. Kyle Robson intercepted a Mustangs pass with 3:30 left in the first half and the next series led to a 30-yard touchdown run by Mark Nicolson. Alex Zajac converted for a 7-3 lead.
Nicolson said the players are well aware of how long it’s been since TASSS had success against Crestwood.
“They haven’t lost a game since Grade 9, our coach said, that team over there so it’s really exciting for us,” Nicolson said. “Leading up to this game all season we’ve talked about it at every practice. It’s a big deal.”
He said it’s exciting to restore pride to Griffins football.
“It’s really special for this group of guys to have all your friends on the team and to win so much is really exciting. After school every day we come to the field and have a good time but we are also working really hard. The coaches are great, too. It’s good to work with them.”
The Mustangs had their chances with Robson emerging big again with 8:43 left in the game. He batted down a Chase Batley throw into the TASSS endzone to prevent a touchdown.
“Our defence played really well,” Nicolson said. “We got a couple of plays on offence for a couple of touchdowns but our defence stopped them really well.”
With 2:45 left Kyle Milburn broke free of a tackle for a 30-yard major to seal the win with Zajac converting. Another interception in the final two minutes stopped Crestwood’s final drive.
Mustangs coach Shane Oldfield acknowledged there is much more intrigue this year with four teams in the mix for top spot.
“It makes for a very interesting league. Something that is a long time coming, really, because up until this point it’s usually been a two-team league. Sometimes there is a third in the mix but we’ve never really had four solid teams. I think we’ve got that this year.”
Oldfield said penalties hurt his team but he also wanted to credit TASSS for their performance.
“We were really frustrated by the number of penalties we took, some deserving and some not,” he said. “On their first drive they started at their 40 and we gave them about 30 yards in penalties. They started on the 40 because we threw an interception and we put a facemask on the guy so they really marched 45 yards on our penalties.
“They’re a really good football team,” Oldfield said. “They’re young and yet they’re outstanding. The play really solid football and are great on the lines. They’re good all the way around.” Challice liked his team’s balance. “We did a lot of things really well,” he said. “We ran when we had to and we threw when we had to and our special teams were good. Our defence was wonderful. We’re really extremely happy with how our whole team played.”
In junior action, the Griffins beat Crestwood 32-3 while Adam Scott beat Haliburton Highlands 48-0.