By Dan Plouffe
Twenty-two teams had taken the stage before them already during the National Capital Amateur Football Association’s championship week, but the North Gloucester Giants and Bell Warriors put on perhaps the most entertaining show nonetheless on Sunday, Nov. 4 at Millennium Field in Orleans.
The Giants wrote an improbable comeback tale from a 20-6 deficit well into the fourth quarter before storming back to force overtime. Jonathan Sutherland got to play the hero’s role by scoring the decisive points before his team’s defence made the big stop in the shootout format to earn the ‘A’ Cup crown 26-20.
“When I was in the end zone, it felt so good because I knew my defence was going to stop them and we were going to win,” smiles Sutherland, noting the end likely would have been different if not for their defence recovering fumbles late.
“We don’t have the best skill in the league but we have the most heart, and heart is what counts,” adds the runningback who also scored a TD in regulation. “When we were down, we never gave up. We kept on grinding and grinding and grinding, and that’s what got us the win.”
Many teams experienced similar jubilation throughout the week, but maybe none appreciated their championship more than the West Carleton Wolverines, who captured the first ‘A’ Cup in the club’s 20-year history.
“Everybody’s just thrilled,” says coach John Russell, noting some coaches had waited well over a decade to see a top-tier title come to fruition. “They’ve had so many good players that have played, but they just never had the whole team needed to go all the way.”
The Wolverines and the Nepean Redskins Mosquito teams completely abolished the notion that “defence wins championships” as they accumulated a basketball game’s worth of points in a 72-57 contest that tested officials’ muscular endurance in constantly signaling touchdowns.
Both teams had unstoppable runningbacks, as Nepean’s Honoreal Iloki and West Carleton’s Hayden Tripp traded trips to the end zone. Backed by a big offensive line that wore down competitors all season along with fullback Justin Yee, Tripp scored an astonishing 11 touchdowns in the championship contest.
“He’s been a phenomenon. If we score seven or eight touchdowns a game, he’s good for six or seven of them,” Russell mentions, noting that the glory wouldn’t have been possible nonetheless without the contributions of all. “It was a real team. It just seemed to be a perfect storm with good coaching, excellent players, and good supporting families.”
The Myers Riders may have lost their Tyke final by 50 points, but they earned a major consolation prize against a Cumberland Panthers group that may well go down in history as the most dominant team ever – they scored the first point of the season against Cumberland in the 51-1 game.
The Riders Bantams exploded for a 26-2 advantage at halftime en route to an ‘A’ Cup title victory over Bell, while Bel-Air outlasted Nepean 4-3 for the Midget crown.
Winning ‘B’ Cup championships were Bell (Tyke and Mosquito), Nepean (Peewee) and Cumberland (Bantam), while Gloucester South (Tyke), North Gloucester (Mosquito and Bantam) and Bel-Air (Peewee) earned ‘C’ Cups.
Seven different clubs occupied the 10 ‘A’ Cup finalist positions and 13 of 16 clubs were represented through all levels of championship games – a strong sign of league-wide competitive health, organizers point out.
With a little help from their Cumberland friends whose field they used, the Orleans Bengals were the host organization for championship week, putting in the tough volunteer hours to receive the canteen proceeds in return.
“To see kids out there in their game jerseys playing an impromptu game of touch on an opposite field on a cold November day, that’s really cool to see,” highlights Bengals president Dennis Prouse, whose volunteer army practically unfurled their sleeping bags at the field since they’d spent so much time there since the action began Tuesday evening. “It shows you that the spirit of the game is alive and kicking.”
NCAFA president Steve Dean agrees, noting their tackle league with 2,200 players may be “one of those best-kept secrets” in the region.
“Football’s growing,” notes Dean, who welcomes another 1,000 participants for touch, flag and cheer programs. “And with the Carleton Ravens and then the CFL coming back, we’re excited. I think it’ll give us even more of a boost.”