For the third straight time, the Hamilton Varsity Tiger Cats and Burlington Stampeders will script another chapter in their rivalry.
This past weekend, both teams won their opening playoff contests in the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) to set up the collision course in the Varsity South Final. The Tiger Cats defeated the Guelph Jr. Gryphons 35-8 while the Stampeders earned a 40-0 shutout victory over Brantford Bisons.
In the Varsity North Final, it will be the Peterborough Wolverines pitted against the Sudbury Gladiators. The Wolverines escaped with a 31-28 win over North Halton Crimson Tide while the Gladiators won a 15-6 battle against the Toronto Jr. Argos.
As for Junior Varsity, the the Stampeders and BIsons are headed for the South Final. Additionally, the Crimson Tide face off against the Huronia Stallions in the North Final.
Dates and times of the next round were not available at press time.
Here are the results of the first round of the OFC playoffs:
VARSITY:
PETERBOROUGH WOLVERINES 31, NORTH HALTON CRIMSON TIDE 28:
Source: Peterborough Wolverines
On Saturday the Sr. and Jr. Varsity Wolverines faced the North Halton Crimson Tide teams with the winners having the opportunity to advance to the Ramsay Conference Championships for their respective divisions. The Sr. Varsity Wolverines hosted the Crimson Tide and won 31-28 in a thrilling victory .
The Sr. Wolverines now (7-2) played well especially with many starters sidelined with injuries to earn the hard fought victory and now advance to the Ramsay Conference Championship. The Wolverines will host the Sudbury Gladiators (5-4) who upset the first place Toronto Jr. Argos. The game will be played this Saturday with a 5 pm kick off at the TAS Field. The Ramsay Champion (North) will travel to Hamilton on Saturday August 13th to play the Dittmer Champion (South) for the overall OFC championship. The game will be at McMaster University in the Ron Joyce Stadium. Good Luck Wolverines!
Scoring for the Wolverines were Brad Deal with two TD’s on passes from QB Chase Batley with one a spectacular 85 yard pass play. The other two TD’s were scored by Nick Clarkin with one an exciting 90 yard kickoff return and a pass from Chase Batley. Nick also kicked a 20 yard Field Goal and converted four PAT kicks.
SUDBURY GLADIATORS 15, TORONTO JR. ARGOS 6:
In a close defensive battle, the Sudbury Gladiators came out on top with a 15-6 win over the Toronto Jr. Argos.
The Gladiators move on the North Division Final where they will meet the Peteborough Wolverines.
NOTE: Player, game stats not available at press time
Photo credit: Jennifer Silvestri
HAMILTON VARSITY TIGER CATS 35, GUELPH JR GRYPHONS 8:
Source: John Metcalfe
The Varsity unit offence rolled in their 35-8 win over the Guelph Jr. Gryphons. Unlike their regular season contest which saw Cats eke out a 12-3 win, the Cats rolled to a 25-0 lead at the half. Pivot Connor Carusello tossed scoring passes of 5 yards to Justin DiPietro and Tyson Middlemost for 31 yards while running in from 4 yards himself. Carusello ended the evening completing 17 of 25 tosses for 286 yards. Damian Tessaro added the other Cats major on a 4 yard run. Jacob Patten Bohtelo booted 4 converts, a 41 yard field goal and a single on a wide field goal. Jason Lefkas had Guelph’s lone major which saw Nathan Monk catch the 2 point conversion.
BURLINGTON STAMPEDERS 40, BRANTFORD BISONS 0:
Source: John Metcalfe
The defending champs cruised in their semi final overwhelming a tired Brantford Bison side 40-0. The Stamps had no one player overwhelm the stats sheet as majors were scored by Dominic Mandalfino (49 yard run), Ayden Amestoy (16 yard run), J.D. Foxcroft (31 yard catch), Matt Orr (1 yard catch) and Nicholas Mardner (80 yard pass and run). Pivots Mason Brown and Kurtis Rourke combined for 15 completions in 20 attempts for 234 yards and 10 Stamps caught at least one pass. Patrick Whelan booted five converts, a 26 yard field goal and Jared Fernandez Brown had an 80 yard kickoff single.
JUNIOR VARSITY:
BRANTFORD BISONS 56, TWIN CITIES PREDATORS 41:
The Brantford Bisons have moved on to the South Division Final after defeating the Twin Cities Predators 56-41.
Now, the Bisons will meet the Stampeders this weekend.
NOTE: Player, game stats not available at press time
BURLINGTON STAMPEDERS 29, HAMILTON VARSITY TIGER CATS 28:
Source: John Metcalfe
A back and forth affair with their neighbours from the west, the Hamilton Varsity Tiger Cats, resulted in a very close 29-28 victory for the Stampeders. This was a sharp contrast to when they met on July 17th and Stamps rolled to a 48-7 win. Zach Ihasz led the Stamps with 119 yards on 11 carries that included touchdown runs of 50 and 10 yards. Connor Irwin Lewis ran in from 15 yards and passed to Nikita Buzynskyy from 42 yards for the other Stamps scores and Buzynskyy booted 4 converts and an 80 kickoff rouge. Carter Routledge was the story for the Cats scoring on runs of 8, 6 and 22 yards plus catching a 2 point convert. Edgerrin Williams scored Hamilton’s other major on a 44 yard pass from Daniel Eldridge and Max Sherwood booted 2 converts. Another area where that assisted Stampeders was outgaining the Cats 280 to 74 in kick return yardage.
Junior Varsity Stallions Working on Inside Run
HURONIA STALLIONS 31, OAKVILLE TITANS 26:
The Huronia Stallions move on the to the North Division Final with a 31-28 victory over the Oakville Titans.
In the North Division Final, the Stallions face the North Halton Crimson Tide.
NORTH HALTON CRIMSON TIDE 30, PETERBOROUGH WOLVERINES 21:
Source: Peterborough Wolverines
Unfortunately, the Jr. Varsity Wolverines travelled to North Halton and fell short 30-21, thus ending their OFC season.
The Jr. Varsity Wolverines travelled to North Halton and faced a very good Crimson Tide squad. The Wolverines got off to a slow start and trailed at the half . They briefly came back to take the lead at 21-20, but the Tide finished strong to seal the victory. The Wolverines finish their season with a 5-4 record. Scoring for the Wolverines were Keegan Crough, Owen Jordan and Kyle Cooper with each scoring a TD. Trent Rowe was successful on three convert kicks.
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