Stangs look to grind out a win
Crest wood taking to Tim Horton Field in Hamilton on Monday for OFSAA Bowl’s Eastern Bowl
The Crestwood Mustangs have been on the big stage before and head coach Shane Oldfield hopes that counts for something at Monday’s OFSAA Bowl.
The Mustangs, the COSSA senior AAA champions, face the LOSS A champion Holy Trinity Titans of Courtice in the Eastern Bowl at 1 p.m. at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton. It’s one of nine games in the OFSAA Bowls Festival played over three days in Hamilton.
Crestwood defeated Kingston’s Frontenac in last year’s National Capital Bowl. The districts were changed this year moving COSSA into the Eastern Bowl against LOSSA.
The only history between the two schools in football is a Metro Bowl quarter-final in junior three years ago won 36-0 by Crestwood.
“It’ s a lot of the same kids ,” Old field said. “Of course, a lot of things change in three years. We don’t have the same quarter back because (Ryan A st rom) didn’ t stay for a fifth year. There are different players and players added. They’ re definitely not the same teams but there area large group of the same kids.”
Old field scouted the Titans ’21-14 win over Oshawa’s Monsignor Paul Dwyer in the LOSSA final on Thursday. The Mustangs have been off since defeating the Centennial Chargers 17-5 on Nov. 9.
“They looked very good ,” Old field said. “They can sure run the ball well. They’re very polished with their run game. When they have to pass they can. They don’ t pass very often but when they do pass they’ re pretty effective.”
That’s not unlike the Mustangs who rely heavily on the run.
“I think we match up well from our perspective because they are a run team and we are a pretty good run defence. I think that bo des well for us,” said Oldfield, “but they’re good all the way around. They’ve got some really good athletes and some good size as well. It’s going to be a tough game for us, for sure.”
The Mustangs aren’ t as explosive offensive ly as they were last season. They rely heavily on their defence and usually chip in enough offence to get the job done. Chase Batley is the quarter back with Dawson Puk, Devon Van B eek, Emerson De Carlo and Zach Aucoin, who is also the kicker, their prime running and receiving options.
“We don’t have a speed back. We
don’ t have a deep passing attack but what we do do is we grind it out very well,” Oldfield said. “That’s what you’re going to get from us. You’re not going to get 40 points thrown up on the board by us so that’s why we rely a lot on our defence.”
The Mustangs are experienced in big games from last year’s OFSAA win, also at Tim Hortons Field, to winning the AA National Capital Bowl in 2015 and COSSA in 2014 as juniors.
“For Holy Trinity, I think this is their first shot at it,” Oldfield said. “I’ m sure they’ re a confident group because they’ve gone undefeated this year. All our kids, or a lot of them, have been through this. I think having the experience of being
there before does help. It’s a onegame competition however and in one game anything can happen. I think our guys will be relaxed, they won’t be nervous, because they’ve been there before. I still think it won’t have a huge impact on the game itself because Holy Trinity is a very confident team.”
Whether it’s been at the Rogers Centre in previous years or now in Hamilton, it’ s a unique opportunity to play on a CFL field.
“Being in the spotlight is something that is unique and a lot of the kids thrive in that situation, especially the veteran kids. We do have a number of veteran kids ,” Old field said.