Hawks capture 5th straight title
Win fifth consecutive WCSSAA championship, but real prize awaits down the provincial road
Jacob Hespeler Hawks’ Seth McKelvey, right, just misses hauling in a pass as Grand River Renegades’ Josh Cook defends. The Hawks didn’t miss many topping the Renegades 32-1 to win their fifth straight WCSSAA title.
CAMBRIDGE — From the start of the season to the end, the Jacob Hespeler Hawks have been in a league of their own.
They put the finishing touches on an another dominant Waterloo County (WCSSAA) campaign Saturday by scoring a 32-1 win over the Grand River Renegades to win their fifth consecutive senior boys high school football championship.
Xavier Pineda, with two, and Devan Fleming had rushing touchdowns, as Darrian Morgan kicked three field goals and the Hawks closed out the local portion of their schedule with a 9-0 record.
“I’m happy to get the win, but I don’t think we played our best today,” said QB Elijah Cruickshank, after a subdued celebration.
“This team has bigger goals and higher expectations, and this is one step closer to where we want to be.”
The Hawks advance to a Central Western Ontario (CWOSSA) semifinal playoff game Thursday against the District 8 champion St. Benedict Saints, or District 1/7 champion St. Mary’s Mustangs of Owen Sound. Those teams meet Monday in Owen Sound and the winner will host Jacob Hespeler.
The Renegades, who finished with a 7-2 record, played a strong defensive game, but struggled to gain yards on offence. Grand River clearly missed two-way standout Brigg Medensky, who was out with a knee injury; but it’s doubtful his presence would have changed the outcome.
Grand River quarterback Nic Andreotte was under constant pressure and the Jacob Hespeler defence did a good job of controlling running back Noah Lebar, who saw his workload increased dramatically because of Medensky’s absence.
“We just couldn’t get the offence rolling,” said Lebar. “Our defence played well, but it wasn’t enough.”
Both teams were strong defensively in the first quarter, and Grand River limited Jacob Hespeler’s explosive offence to a 16-yard Morgan field goal. It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Morgan adding a 35-yarder to make it 6-0, then Fleming scoring on a 10-yard run that led to a 13-0 lead.
Morgan’s second field goal came on the heels of a blocked punt by Josh Gilpin, and Fleming’s touchdown came just a few plays after Hawks linebacker Connor Martinez recovered a fumble at the Renegades’ 46-yard line.
Morgan closed out the first-half scoring with another 35-yard field goal to make it 16-0 at the break.
A bizarre play near the start of the second half led to Jacob Hespeler’s second touchdown of the day.
Morgan missed a 37-yard field goal attempt, which Andreotte tried to run out of the end zone.
But he ended up kicking the ball out of bounds, while still in the end zone. After a brief meeting of the officials, Jacob Hespeler was awarded the ball on Grand River’s oneyard line and Pineda scored on the next play to make it 22-0.
Pineda also scored on a six-yard run, with the game already out of reach.
The Hawks, who have now outscored their opponents 393-59, will return to practice Monday and begin preparations for the next step on the road to the CWOSSA final, and a possible berth in the OFSAA Central Bowl.
Gilpin, who excelled at defensive back and running back, said he and his team have no preference about their next opponent.
“Not at all, we’re just worried about moving on, moving up and getting better,” he said.
The Hawks played most of the first half without running back/receiver Seth Robertson, who was in Toronto writing a secondary school admission test (SSAT).
Linebacker David Pavlinich had a strong defensive game for Grand River and recovered a fumble.
The Brantford Collegiate Mustangs and Guelph CVI Gaels will meet Wednesday in the other CWOSSA semifinal.
The CWOSSA final is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 21, at University Stadium.