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By Tyler Reis-Sanford
Winning one Ontario Summer Football League title is no easy thing. The OSFL offers the best young football players in the province the chance to test themselves against each other, and to show off their talent to watchful scouts and prep school recruiters.
Winning two titles would be even harder, but in a league where age groups are typically separated by two-year gaps, it’s plausible that a single dominant class of athletes might propel a team to win back-to-back championships.
But winning three consecutive titles? Three straight years of dominance and excellence, three years without a single loss? That’s the mark of something special, that’s the mark of a program that breeds a culture of exceptionalism.
Enter the U14 AAA Cumberland Panthers football team.
The Panthers started their 2025 season in January, preparing for a campaign without a number of the key players that made the team so dominant in their 2024 championship run. From day one, the expectations were clear, and the players and staff knew the importance of what they were preparing for.
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“We started early but it was all for a reason,” said team captain Joenny Ngondi. “The practices, the ups and downs, we fought through adversity and stayed together as a team, we knew the three-peat was always the goal.”
True to their word, the Panthers dominated in the regular season, going undefeated for a third consecutive year and outscoring their opponents by an average margin of 34.6 points, nearly five whole touchdowns. Their offence was commanding and relentless, imposing their will on their opponents whenever they could, and their defence was equally as impressive and physical, shutting out their opponents completely in almost half their games.
Waiting for them at the finish line was a familiar foe out for revenge, the Western Junior Mustangs out of London, the very team they had beat to claim their 2024 championship.
The game was close for a while, with the Panthers and Mustangs trading blows on both sides of the ball. The Panthers were moving the ball at will on offence, but their staunch defence had a hard time containing the run pass option of the opposing Mustangs. Entering halftime at 21-14, the Panthers held on to a one-score lead, and the Mustangs were showing more fight than the 2024 iteration of the team, which didn’t manage a single score in last year’s final.
When the second half kicked off, it didn’t take long for the Panthers to find their rhythm again. The shot in the arm came in the form of a beautiful play-action pass that fooled announcers, cameramen and the Mustangs defenders completely, leaving Ngondi open for a long touchdown catch down the sideline.
“Taking the time with the quarterback, perfecting that play action, making sure we have the right timing, making sure we’re patient, that play action was perfect,” said Ngondi. “He fooled the whole defence. The second my defensive back that was sitting high bit down, he threw me the ball and that was it.”
From there, the momentum shifted. London managed to score once more following Ngondi’s long bomb touchdown, but the Panthers answered with a resounding 21 unanswered points, winning the July 27 championship game 49-29 at Queen’s University in Kingston.
Ngondi said he and his fellow teammates were ecstatic, but that winning was always the expectation because they foster a culture where players know they have to work hard to win.
Ngondi played his role on the field, but off the field, he said he learned from older players on how to motivate his teammates to bring out the best in them, something he tries to do when hyping the team up before each game with a high-octane chant.
Other leaders, like middle linebacker and defensive captain Alex Stevenson, opt for the strong and silent approach. Stevenson left his mark all over the field in the win, and left a few bruises on the Mustangs as well. The signal caller collapsed running lanes, punished opposing receivers and quarterbacks, and helped embody the mentality that has shaped the dominant Panthers squad. When Stevenson found out they’d be playing their rival Mustangs again in the championship, he was quick to embrace the challenge of a grudge match.
“I’d play them on a dirt road, 6 a.m. on a dirt road – see you there,” said Stevenson with a smile and a laugh. “It would be a good game, it always is, and you have to be ready to play a better version of the team every time.”
Stevenson’s mentality isn’t a coincidence, it’s the result of a program that’s been able to refine its winning culture for years, instilled from the top down by coordinators Ntare Bainomugisha and Paul Deek, managers Mel Gaucher, Kayla McKinley, Celine Drouin, and Jordyn Stevenson, and by head coach Ryan Gaucher.
“In football, it’s hard to beat the same team twice,” said Gaucher. “We’re not chirpy, we’re not talking smack, one thing I pride myself and our team on is our level of professionalism, we do our talking with our shoulder pads and the scoreboard.”
Gaucher said that his team was eager to embrace the challenge, and has done the work to keep their spot as the team to beat.
“Throughout the season, you see social media posts, you see guys say, ‘Oh, we’re coming for you,'” said Gaucher. “That just fuels the fire. We sit back, keep our mouth shut, but we know there’s targets on our backs. We love the gasoline that’s being poured on the fire, we feed off that, and when it comes time, we remember. We don’t hold grudges, but we remember.”
Starting in 2022, as a linebackers coach for the team, Gaucher has held the head coaching position for the U14 Panthers for two years, and said that in that time they’ve grown to be more like a family than anything else.
The Panthers don’t just get together to practice and play games, but also for “family dinners”, BBQ’s, and pool parties in Gaucher’s back yard. This year, the Panthers went for a team trip to Calypso Waterpark, something Gaucher said helps the team bond when they often see quick player turnover. Shortly after their championship win, they were honoured by the Ottawa Redblacks at their game against the Calgary Stampeders on July 31.
Like all good things though, the 2025 OSFL season must come to an end, and with that means saying goodbye to staff and players who have grown into a family so quickly.
“It was sad [for] equipment return, and people were coming together, there’s tears,” recalled Gaucher. “The last two days my phone hasn’t stopped with messages of overwhelming love, the way this team has bonded is really incredible.”
For now, Gaucher, Stevenson and Ngondi will move on to the local fall football league, where they will meet as opponents, but in January all three will be moving on, either to join the U16 Panthers squad, or to explore new opportunities.
For now, it’s time for the Panthers to celebrate their OSFL greatness. In January, it starts all over again, and when it’s time for the next generation of U14 Cumberland Panthers to make their push, they’ll do so knowing they follow in the footsteps of the greatness before them.
Cumberland U16 girls win matching Ontario crown
The Panthers organization celebrated two provincial titles this summer.
A couple weekends earlier at the same championship game site in Kingston, the Cumberland U16 girls’ tackle football team won the Ontario Women’s Football League title 58-28 over Peel.
Team quarterback Maelle Parthenais went on to play for Ontario at the U18 Women’s Tackle National Championship from July 20-26 in Calgary.
Ontario beat Alberta 21-10 and Saskatchewan 43-26 to qualify for the championship final and a rematch against Alberta. Parthenais tossed a two-point convert to force overtime, but it was Alberta that prevailed.
The Ottawa Sports Pages did not receive replies to interview requests from Football Canada or the Panthers women’s program.