Fratmen confident going into playoffs
Brandon Reaume was everything the Windsor AKO Fratmen could ask at quarterback this season and more.
Stepping into the starter’s role after the graduation of Austin Lumley, Reaume set three new club records in guiding the Fratmen to a first-place finish in the regular season in the Ontario Football Conference.
AKO will be home throughout the playoffs starting with Saturday’s league semifinal match with the Ottawa Sooners. Game time at Alumni Field is 7:30 p.m.
“Brandon’s really impressed me with his vision on the field,” Fratmen head coach Mike LaChance said.
The 22-year-old Reaume led the league with 1,827 yards passing and 21 touchdowns while also finishing fourth in rushing with 291 yards and tied for the league lead with seven touchdown runs.
Somehow, that didn’t earn him the league’s top offensive player or even all-star quarterback recognition, but that doesn’t bother Reaume.
“It was a stepping stone for us,” Reaume said. “It’s only Part 1 of the story. This (the playoffs) is the real story now.”
But Reaume admits he did get some satisfaction from breaking three of Dan Gray’s old club quarterback marks set in 1998. Reaume’s completion mark of 67.6 per cent bested Gray’s standard of 56.9 per cent. His 21 touchdown
passes topped Gray’s old mark of 19. Reaume also finished with a quarterback efficiency rating of 151.2, which beat Gray’s previous record of 135.1.
“Dan Gray was my high school football coach,” said Reaume, a Massey high school product. “He’s the guy that turned me into a quarterback. I wanted to be a receiver.
“Now, 20 years later, I took his record. He was at the (last) game and came down and shook my hand and congratulated me.”
AKO, which finished the regular season 7-1, won the only meeting with Ottawa in the regular season. The Fratmen beat the Sooners, who finished 3-5, by a score of 4023 in Ottawa on Sept. 2.
“It’s nice we put ourselves in the position we did by winning, but it’s do or die now and it means nothing if we don’t accomplish our ultimate goal of a championship,” Reaume said. “I want a ring.”