HIGH ACHIEVERS: Football kicking up a storm and it’s only spring

By Martin Cleary

The football season is quickly coming into focus.

And it’s darting at us from many directions, just like the action of a real gridiron game.

University and high school players have been named to elite teams for important spring games.

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees will induct five players into its hall of fame this weekend.

The Carleton University Ravens will be having a similar ceremony, when it welcomes the newest team graduates into its Old Crow Society as part of its Football Celebration 2023.

The officials and players are on the field. So let’s get this report underway.

NINE REGIONAL PLAYERS SELECTED FOR EAST-WEST BOWL

The 19th East-West Bowl game is slated for May 13 at McMaster University in Hamilton. Game time is 4 p.m. for the showcase match, which will feature, for the most part, players eligible for the 2024 Canadian Football League Draft.

There will be nine student-athletes with Ottawa-Gatineau connections on the two rosters – three on offence and four on defence for the East and one on offence and one on defence for the West.

The East is comprised of student-athletes from the Atlantic and Quebec conferences plus the Carleton University Ravens, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, Queen’s University and York University. The West roster has student-athletes from the remaining OUA schools, and the Canada West conference.

U Sports added “some adjustments have been made to balance out the two sides.”

The East offensive line will feature Gee-Gees’ Tristan Fortin of Roberval, PQ., and the Ravens’ Patrick Lavoie of Gatineau. Gee-Gees’ Nicholas Gendron of Gatineau was named as a receiver.

Carleton’s Malik Yusuf of Ottawa will play at linebacker, while the University of Sherbrooke’s Alexandre-Karl Boudreau of Gatineau, the Gee-Gees’ Eric Cumberbatch of Alexandria, ON., and the Ravens’ Louis Lavaud of Pierrefonds, Que., will serve as defensive backs.

The West roster includes Western University offensive lineman Alex Berwick of Ottawa and Gee-Gees’ defensive back Kevin Victome of Ottawa.

The West has won the last five games and leads the series 12-6. The East-West Bowl was played at Carleton University in 2019, but was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The West defeated the East 11-8, when the game returned in 2022.

TEAM ONTARIO EYING FOUR U18 PLAYERS FROM ST. MATTHEW TIGERS

Four St. Matthew High School Tigers student-athletes are in contention to earn a berth on the Ontario U18 male tackle football program’s 40-player roster.

Quarterback Jackson Plante, defensive backs Malcolm Burnett and Dyllan Katako and receiver Pantelis Livadiotakis-Fraser have been invited to the RedBlack Weekend May 6-7 at Western University as part of the top 90 U18 players in Ontario.

Plante, Burnett and Katako have been named to the Red team, while Livadiotakis-Fraser will dress for the Black team for the May 7th game.

All four players helped St. Matthew win the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association title and the OFSAA National Capital Bowl championship 24-15 over Toronto Northern in the fall of 2022.

The RedBlack Weekend will serve as the final evaluation and selection step for Team Ontario, which will compete in the Canada Cup July 9-15 in Edmonton.

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS RULE FOR GEE-GEES’ HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

The University of Ottawa will stage its annual Touchdown Weekend on Saturday and induct four defensive players and one record-setting receiver into the Gee-Gees’ Football Hall of Fame.

Don Burns (1978-82) set a national record for receptions in one season, when he caught 60 passes in his senior season in 1982. He also was the first Gee-Gees’ receiver to record 2,000 yards in a career. In 1980, he caught the game-winning touchdown in the Dunsmore Cup and added another touchdown in the Atlantic Bowl.

Mike Hendricks (1992-95) registered 72 tackles and four sacks in the 1993 season and was named the Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference’s most outstanding defensive player as well as an All-Canadian. A linebacker, Hendricks finished his career with 184 tackles.

Michel Dupuis (1995-2000) was a linebacker and defensive team captain on the Gee-Gees’ squad which won the 2000 Vanier Cup national university football championship. In 1998, he led the team in sacks, and returned an interception for a touchdown the previous season.

Frantz Jacques (1999-2002) was a two-time conference all-star as a cornerback, a 2000 All-Canadian and a Vanier Cup champion in the same season. He was part of the country’s best defence in 2000, recorded 22 unassisted tackles and snared an interception during the Dunsmore Cup victory.

Ettore Lattanzio (2010-14) had many highlights during his five-year stay as a defensive lineman with the Gee-Gees – 2014 national J.P. Metras Award winner as top lineman and the OUA nominee for that honour in 2013 and 2014. He also was a two-time All-Canadian and holds team records for most sacks in a career and sacks in a season.

OLD CROW SOCIETY ABOUT TO GROW WITH LARGE CLASS

The Carleton University Ravens’ football program will be in celebration mode on April 28 at the Ravens’ Nest.

Graduating players from the past three seasons will become official members of the Old Crow Society. The ticketed event also will honour the legendary teams from 1980-85 and commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the return of Ravens’ football in 2013, following a 15-year absence.

Canadian sportscaster Mark Lee, a former Carleton quarterback, will have a fireside chat with Ravens’ head coach Corey Grant. They will discuss Grant’s first season as Carleton’s head coach and his thoughts on the Ravens’ future.

Carleton football enthusiasts also will experience game-day-style food, a cash bar and a silent auction. The celebration starts at 5 p.m.