Griffins win first COSSA title in 23 years
48-point win for TASSs over Eastside in honour of injured No. 48 teammate
The Thomas A. Stewart Griffins senior boys football team had no shortage of motivation on Wednesday afternoon.
Whether it was the drive for their first COSSA senior football title in 23 years or a trip to an OFSAA Bowl game at Ottawa’s TD Place on the line or thoughts of a teammate struggling to come back from a devastating car crash the Griffins wouldn’t be denied.
Jake Zajac returned the game’s opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown and before the first quarter was over the Griffins led Belleville’s Eastside Ravens 28-0. The COSSA AAA final ended up 63-15 at the Thomas A. Stewart Athletic Field.
It was the first COSSA senior title for head coach Jeff Challice since he coached back-to-back champions in 1994 and 1995.
It clinched their first appearance in an OFSAA Bowl game Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. when they will face the EOSSA champion in a CFL stadium.
“We won a couple (COSSA titles) at junior the last couple of years but this is our first senior one in a long time,” Challice said.
“They’re a really competitive group of kids. No matter what they do they compete with each other. They could be running and no one wants to finish second. It could be kicking a ball around in the hallway. No one wants to be the guy who loses. They’re a good bunch of kids and a smart bunch of kids so it’s a great combination.”
When the score reached 48-0 the Griffins stopped posting any further points on their side of the scoreboard; 48 is the jersey number of teammate Braidyn Milton who they honour by wearing a sticker with his initials and number on their helmets.
Milton was critically injured in a car crash on his way to school earlier in the fall. He was recently moved from Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto to Peterborough Regional Health Centre. He’s no longer in an induced coma but he has a long recovery ahead from a serious head injury. He’s become much more responsive in recent weeks and teammates were texting him after the game. The team took a photo under the scoreboard and sent it to Braidyn.
“We wanted to do something that was a little special for him,” Challice said. “Mr. (Mike) Goble thought that would be a great thing to do. It seems like in the last week he’s come a long way, I’m not exactly sure how far, but he’s made some significant improvements.”
“Ever since the accident we’ve been thinking about him,” said Griffins running back Cam Wilson. “He is awake now and we sent him a text that we got him a COSSA gold medal so he should be excited about that. The day we found out everyone was devastated and upset. It give us more motivation because we’re fighting on the field for our team and he’s a part of our team.”
Wilson says it’s a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to play on a CFL field and a big accomplishment to win COSSA.
“We had one of the guys from the team 23 years ago talk to us about how big a thing this is and how we’ll remember it for the rest of our lives,” Wilson said.
After Zajac’s TD, Eastside turned the ball over on downs on their own 10-yard line on the next series. Kyle Milburn scored on the next play with a 10-yard scamper. The rout was on as TASSS led 56-0 at halftime. Zajac, Milburn and Max Levasseur had three majors each and Zajac booted nine converts.
Eastside scored late points on the Griffins secondary unit. Mack Kinnear scored on a 25 yard run and Mike McFaul hauled in a pass from Matt Berry on a 40-yard play. Ryan Mason also caught a pass for a two-point convert.
“When they return the opening kickoff for a touchdown and the kid is untouched that’s not a good omen,” said Eastside coach Dave Corbett. “It kind of went downhill from there. They’re very well coached and obviously very good. They’re very fast. A lot faster than anything we’ve seen. That was the biggest factor, their speed. The kids could have gotten on each other and turned negative but they didn’t. That’s a positive to take out of it. We did score some points at the end.”