Argos upset Eskimos in Kinsmen minor football final
The Argonauts completed one of the great turnarounds in the Kinsmen Minor Football League’s 37 seasons on Saturday.
After losing every game in 2016, the Argonauts upset the two-time defending champion Eskimos 23-18 in the senior division championship game at the Thomas A. Stewart Athletic Field.
In the junior final, the Tiger-Cats edged the Eskimos 34-32 as the Eskimos missed a two-point kick trying to tie it late in the game.
In the senior final, Sam Levasseur scored two touchdowns on 63 and 29 yard runs with the latter standing up as the winner. A day after his older brother Max won a Kawartha junior high school championship with the Thomas A. Stewart Griffins, Sam earned his first KMFL title.
“This is my and a couple of other guys on my team’s last year so it means a lot to us because some of us haven’t won a championship,” Levasseur said. “They all doubted us at the start of the season because last year we didn’t win a game. We proved them wrong and came back with an amazing win.”
The Argos were 5-2 entering the final against the 7-0 Eskimos. Levasseur said it was rewarding to have such a turnaround season.
“We had some new players and we worked together as a team and played hard and practised hard. It brings tears to my eyes,” he said. “Everybody gave 100 per cent and left it on the field.”
“The Eskimos are a fantastic team, very talented,” said Argos’ coach Christian Vesnaver. “They were the team to beat this year for sure. We just kept it light, emphasized to the guys to execute and play our game the way we know how and most of all play with a smile on your face. Go out and enjoy and embrace the game and our guys did.
“There was no pressure on us because no one at the start of the year predicted us to be here.”
Also scoring a touchdown for the Argos was Josh Nickerson while Quinton Nattress kicked two converts and a single. Spencer Watchorn scored three TD’s for the Eskimos including a 75-yard run with just under three minutes left to draw his team within five points.
The Eskimos fell just short of becoming the first team to win three consecutive KMFL title in coach Larry Gillman’s final game. After 21 years of coaching Gillman announced his retirement at the end of the game.
“The Argos played extremely well and our guys never quit,” said Gillman. “We were behind a lot of the game and were in it right to the end. Congratulations to Christian and the Argos but I’m really proud of this group. They had an outstanding season.”
It was an emotional day for Gillman as he knew it would be his last. He says his involvement in other community activities requires more attention.
“This is something I get a great deal of satisfaction out of and I don’t want to leave but it’s time,” said Gillman, who has coached 11 championship teams. “It’s been a very gratifying 21 years and I feel very thankful to have had the opportunity. It you look at the high school level, the kids who have gone on to university and the Wolverines, so many of them have come through the KMFL. It really gives them a head start,” he said. “Also, you look at the coaches and they’re the ones at the high schools and with the Wolverines. I’m very blessed to have coached with people like Ken Butcher who won a championship with the Wolverines this year. I’ve coached with Vik Kulla and it’s no surprise to me the TASSS program has turned around with Vik there. I want to mention Rob Laplante who has coached 37 years and has 15 championships. He retired last year but I asked him to come back one more year because no one had every won three in a row. It’s a really tough thing to win one let alone two and we were close.”
In the junior final, Kolby Hubbert scored three touchdowns including the winner for the Ti-Cats. D.J. Crough and Gavin Mohns also reached the endzone while Carter Hubbert kicked two, two-point converts.DavidMcNellyledtheEskimos with three touchdowns and a two point convert while Nate O’Brien and Nate Harvey also scored.