Holy Cross Hurricanes worn down by Chargers in COSSA AA final
31-0 loss in first return to COSSA football final since 2011
The Holy Cross Hurricanes’ return to COSSA didn’t go as hoped but valuable experience was gained, says their coach.
The Hurricanes’ 31-0 loss to the Centennial Chargers in the COSSA AA junior football final in Belleville on Thursday afternoon was the school’s first appearance in a COSSA bowl game since 2011.
The Hurricanes ran into a big Centennial team that wore them down. They led 10-0 at half-time and added 21 second-half points.
“They were physically bigger than us, for sure, and that’s probably where we gave up the most,” said Hurricanes head coach Bond Bjorgan.
“We turned the ball over a little bit and that turned into a couple of scores for them. They grinded and because they were bigger and more physical we just wore down. We turned the ball over a couple of times down in the red zone which prevented us from getting points.”
The Hurricanes were 4-1-1 in Kawartha regular season play and won their semifinal game before back-to-back losses in Kawartha and COSSA finals.
“Our goal was to get into those championship type games because that’s how your program gets better,” Bjorgan said.
“We hadn’t done that for a few years. Once you start to get your program a couple of extra games at the end of the year against better competition it lets your kids know what they have to do to win those big games.
“It’s all part of the process.
You have to get there to know how to get to the next steps. We were definitely happy with the effort that our kids gave. They fought hard and no one pulled the chute, so to speak. They went right to the final whistle.”
The team is comprised of 20 Grade 10 players and 15 in Grade 9 so a good mix of returning players and a good group moving up to senior.
“That will be good for our senior program because we only had 18 or 19 kids in total at senior,” Bjorgan said.