Look for Hawks to continue winning ways
Playoffs are upon us in the Waterloo County (WCSSAA) and District 8 senior football leagues, starting with a pair of quarter-final doubleheaders Wednesday.
The opening round of the WCSSAA playoffs will be contested at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School and St. David Catholic Secondary School, with games set for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at both locations. In Cambridge, it’s the Waterloo-Oxford Crusaders (B4) vs. the Jacob Hespeler Hawks (A1) and the Grand River Renegades (A3) vs. the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders. In Waterloo, it’s the KCI Raiders (A4) vs. the Waterloo Vikings (B1) and the Elmira Lancers (B3) vs. the Bluevale Knights (A2).
The District 8 semifinal will be contested Thursday, with the second-place St. Mary’s Eagles hosting the third-place St. David Celtics. The winner will take on the Resurrection Phoenix in next Thursday’s league final at Warrior Field.
Here’s a quick look at this week’s games.
WCSSAA
Waterloo-Oxford (2-3) vs. Jacob Hespeler (5-0), 5 p.m.
The Hawks outscored their opponents 250-25 during the regular season and appear to be just warming up. We all know how this one ends.
Grand River (2-3) vs. SJAM (5-1), 7 p.m.
The Highlanders running game, spearheaded by Ty Davis, will be too much for the Renegades to handle. SJAM’s reward is a semifinal game against Jacob Hespeler.
KCI (2-3) vs. WCI (5-0), 5 p.m.
The Vikings have been getting the job done all season with a stingy defence and an offence that does just enough to get the job done. That trend will continue here.
Elmira (3-2) vs. Bluevale (4-1),
7 p.m.
There has to be at least one upset in the first round of the playoffs and this is it.
District 8
St. David (3-2-1) at St. Mary’s (4-2), This one could go either way, a game between two well-coached teams with strong quarterbacks (Andrew Brush, St. Mary’s and Sam Hepditch, St. David) and better than average defences. The Eagles have yet to play in a District 8 final, which makes them the sentimental choice here.
Last week: 6-0, not counting a tie game
Season: 30-13