Mustangs to face Griffins in Kawartha football final
Crestwood defeated Adam Scott Lions 19-7 in Tuesday semifinal
Crestwood Mustangs senior football team ensured Tuesday wasn’t Shane Oldfield’s last game as a high school coach.
The Mustangs punched their ticket to the Kawartha final with a 19-7 semifinal win over the Adam Scott Lions at Crestwood. It guarantees Crestwood a trip to COSSA next week.
The Mustangs will face the undefeated Thomas A. Stewart Griffins in the Kawartha final 2 p.m. Saturday at TASSS Athletic Field. The Griffins beat the Fenelon Falls Falcons 36-14 on Tuesday.
For the first time ever the Kawartha junior final will pit two separate school board teams as the St. Peter’s Saints and Holy Cross Hurricanes will meet at 12 p.m. Saturday at TASSS. The Saints beat the Griffins 33-7 and the Hurricanes defeated the Lions 28-7 in Tuesday semifinals.
Set to retire at the end of the school year, veteran coach Oldfield’s team trailed 7-3 at halftime. Zach Aucoin kicked an early field goal for Crestwood before Jackson Baker aired out a 15-yard touchdown pass to Trent Jennings, converted by Ethan Ross, for a 7-3 Lions’ lead late in the first half.
The Lions conceded a two point safety early in the third quarter. Cody Spencer’s interception and two 15 yard Lions’ penalties on the same play, for unnecessary roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct, put Crestwood on Scott’s 10 yard line. Aucoin’s field goal was tipped wide but sailed through the end zone for a rouge.
Crestwood took over in the fourth quarter with Josh Campbell running 30 yards to set up his own one-yard plunge, aided by another Lions’ penalty, to go up 13-7 on Aucoin’s convert. Connor Lindblad intercepted a Baker pass and Owen Petersen caught a 30-yard pass from Kurt Cantello to set up Crestwood’s final score by Campbell on short yardage.
“You have to give Adam Scott credit. They were outstanding today especially their defence,” said Oldfield. “Our offence turned it around in the second half and started to produce.”
Oldfield anticipates a tough match with the Griffins.
“TASSS is really good and we know that. They’re an excellent team and we’ll have our hands full,” said Oldfield. “We’re going to have to play well if we expect to advance to AAA.”
While he’d like some of the penalties back, Lions’ coach Darrell Wright praised his team.
“It was quite a battle,” said Wright. “We’re pretty proud of our guys’ effort. We came up short today but we’ve certainly got better as the season has gone along. I can’t ask for any more effort from our guys today. They played their hearts out.”
Cross Country
Thomas A. Stewart Griffins’ Anna May turned in the top performance by a local runner at the OFSAA cross country championships on Saturday in Hamilton.
May placed seventh in the midget girls race while teammate Nadiya Linde-Elmhirst finished 51st.
St. Peter’s Saints Tristen Jones finished 13th in the senior boys’ race while the Saints senior girls’ team placed 15th led by Tara Black at 75th overall and Audrey McCarthy at 97th.
Norwood District’s Marisha Thompson placed
61st in the senior girls’ event. Adam Scott Lions’ Molly Strain placed 24th in junior girls and teammate Sophy Wood finished 60th.
Crestwood Mustangs’ Jack Workman was 122nd in the midget boys field.
Boys’ Soccer
The St. Peter’s Saints senior boys finished second at the COSSA AAA soccer championships in Brighton on Monday.
The Saints beat host East Northumberland 1-0 in semifinals on Elliott Milligan’s indirect kick that deflected off a defender’s head. Evan McLeod was brilliant in goal.