CFC50 High School Rankings WEEK 10: Do you love chaos? Because we’ve got a new #1 program in Canada

We’ve got a new number one program in Canada, but the race for the National Championship is far from over.

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HEADLINES

Saskatchewan

• The game of the year? It took not one, not two, but three overtime sessions to determine the Regina city finals with Miller holding on for dear life to capture their third straight league title with a 27-20 victory over LeBoldus at Mosaic Stadium. It was a heartbreaking night for the Golden Suns, who took an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter, and then had to scrap back in the fourth with a field goal to send the game into overtime 10-10. That’s when both offences came to life trading blows in extra time, but the Marauders were able to land the last knockout punch to put an end to the Golden Suns season. It wasn’t the fairytale ending LeBoldus was dreaming of, but they proved to the nation they’re still one of the premier programs in Canada, and we expect them to come back swinging next year. On the other side, Miller now turn their attention to the 6A Provincial finals with the chance to become the first team to three-peat since LeBoldus ripped off five straight championships from 2012-2016. With margins so tight at the top of the CFC50 Rankings, they drop to third behind Harry Ainlay and Vancouver College for now, but that doesn’t mean their bid for back-to-back National Championships is dead in the water with lots of playoff football left to be played in November.
• On the other side of the province, it was no surprise to see Holy Cross and St. Joseph duking it out for the fourth straight season with the Saskatoon city title on the line. After losing in the title fight last year, Holy Cross would not be denied this time around coming out on top 24-16 over their dreaded rivals. It’s been a roller coaster ride for the Crusaders, who suffered a surprising loss to 5A Saskatoon champions Aden Bowman midway through the season, and were left with a bitter taste in their mouths after dropping their second contest to St. Joseph 15-2 in the regular season finale – but they bounced back when it mattered most. Now they turn their eyes towards Miller, and the chance to become the first program from Saskatoon to raise the 6A Provincial trophy above their heads since Aden Bowman in 2009. After watching LeBoldus take them to the edge of defeat, you have to believe the Crusaders will be filled with confidence that they have what it takes to finally push the Marauders over the edge.

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Manitoba

• Hands up, who picked Grant Park? We’re guilty as charged after not giving the Pirates any shine on the rankings despite a 6-1 regular season campaign, but nobody can ignore them now after shocking St. Paul’s in a 24-21 upset to advance to the ANAVETS Bowl. Grant Park is the poster child for anything can happen in the playoffs, because after losing to Dakota 49-0 in their regular season finale, it didn’t look like they had the horses to keep up with the front-runners. That loss will still be fresh on their mind heading into their championship bout with the Lancers, but considering St. Paul’s handed Dakota their only loss earlier in the year, they now know they can give anyone a run for their money if they put together a perfect gameplan and execute. It’s not going to be easy, but what a story it would be if the Pirates are able to claim their first ANAVETS Bowl in school history, and first provincial title since winning the AA championship in 2011.
• We were so close to having the ultimate underdog clash in the ANAVETS Bowl, but Dakota were able to hang on 24-23 against Oak Park to secure their spot in the AAAA Provincial finals. The Lancers probably weren’t expecting to see the Pirates one more time this year, but they should be feeling great about their chances after defeating Grant Park 49-0 just three weeks ago. One thing we know for sure, is that one of these programs will be taking home their first ever ANAVETS Bowl, and it would be a special moment for Dakota who have risen through the ranks with their only provincial title coming in 2010 when they were still competing in the A Division.

Quebec

• We’ve been justifying keeping College Notre-Dame on the ranking all year long despite a mediocre 4-5 record on paper, and they finally found the clutch gene they’ve been lacking with a 34-24 victory over Saint-Francois in the quarterfinals. When you look at their records, anyone would’ve heavily favoured third seed Saint-Francois, but the Blizzard knew better than anybody that the Cactus weren’t going to roll over after barely squeaking by 9-8 during their regular season matchup. After suffering five devastating losses all by one score, College Notre-Dame have found fifth gear in the playoffs, and now earned the chance to play Saint-Jean-Eudes one last time with a spot in the Bol d’Or within reach. Even though they technically have gotten the better matchup, there will be no relief on the Condors sideline, who will remember how hard they had to fight to put the Cactus to bed in their 33-27 victory back in week two. Will Saint-Jean-Eudes be the next victim on College Notre-Dame’s revenge tour? Stay tuned.
• Armand-Corbeil had a similar scenario on the other side of the bracket with a matchup against Cure-Antoine-Labelle in the quarterfinals, who managed to defeat the Scorpions 21-18 back in week two. It was their one major blemish in an otherwise fantastic campaign, and they managed to correct their mistakes from earlier in the year with a 21-9 victory to advance to the semifinals against College Bourget. Now the shoe is on the opposite foot, with College Bourget looking to flip the narrative after losing to Armand-Corbeil in a 41-38 track meet back in week three. Your guess is as good as ours about who comes out on top in this colossal showdown.

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Alberta

• Everyone was looking for a twist ending, but Harry Ainlay wouldn’t oblige with a 43-7 victory over Paul Kane to reclaim the Edmonton Metro Carr Division title for the fifth time in six years. Now they turn their attention to the grand prize in the Alberta Provincial Playdowns, and they’ve earned themselves a bye straight to the semifinals where they will faceoff against the winners of Ernest Manning versus Bev Facey. The Titans are looking to bring home their fourth provincial banner in six years, and erase the memory of their beatdown at the hands of Raymond in last year’s finals. After perennially battling in the top ten during their run of dominance in Edmonton, they could also earn their first ever CFC50 National Championship. They’ve snagged pole position for now, but can they finish the race?
• St. Francis made life difficult for Ernest Manning, but they couldn’t land the final blow with the Griffins winning their second straight Calgary city title 21-14. It’s been an epic rise for Ernest Manning, who went from basement dwellers to the penthouse, and now they have the chance to become the kings of Alberta if they can put together a flawless run in the provincial playdowns with their first obstacle being Bev Facey in the quarterfinals. The good news for St. Francis is that their season is not over yet with a chance to redeem themselves in the provincial playdowns with a quarterfinals matchup against their rivals Notre Dame, who they defeated 50-21 to advance to the city finals.
• The other cog in the wheel heading into the provincial playdowns is the defending champions Raymond, who blasted past Lethbridge CI 42-0 to secure the top seed. What most people don’t understand across Canada is that the Comets are a complete anomaly with a population of around 300 students, but somehow are able to put together a football program that can compete at the highest level in Alberta. We’ve got them ranked sixth for now, and that’s mostly due to their unorthodox Independent schedule that’s seen them play only five games on Canadian soil, but they have every opportunity to claim their first ever CFC50 National Championship if they can dominate the provincial playdowns for the second year in a row.

Ontario

• It was a wild week in London with the semifinals offering all the thrills you’d expect during the playoffs as South managed to knock off the defending champions Laurier 25-19, while A.B. Lucas answered back with a 27-24 victory over Sir Frederick Banting. This means we have another “Civil War” brewing between South and A.B. Lucas, but this time around there’s much more than bragging rights on the line.
• Even when you’re the favourites, you never know what will happen when S.J.H. Newman and St. Thomas More meet in the playoffs, but the Cardinals left no doubt in this chapter on the rivalry with a 26-5 victory to advance to the Hamilton Catholic finals. They’ll now prepare to face the defending champions Bishop Tonnos, who cruised by Bishop Ryan 51-13 in their semifinals bout. Obviously the Cardinals and Titans will want to lift the league trophy, but most importantly they’ve both secured their spots in the GHAC playdowns against the champions from the Halton Catholic and Public leagues. The first time these two met this season Bishop Tonnos came out on top of a defensive war 7-6, so we’re expecting another hotly contested matchup where points will come at a premium.
• St. Mary’s are one step away from heading to the OFSSA Festival for the first time since 2012 after defeating St. Joseph-Scollard Hall 32-2 in the NOSSA semifinals. The only team left standing in their way is Lo-Ellen out of Sudbury, who have never represented NOSSA at OFFSA. Sounds promising, but the Knights can’t afford to chalk up a win before the final whistle.
• St. Matthew have planted their flag as the team to beat in Ottawa after dismantling previously undefeated St. Joseph 46-14 in their regular season finale. They now get one week to catch their breath with a bye straight to the semifinals.
• Hammarskjold earned the distinction as the first team punch their ticket to the OFSAA Festival with a 14-7 win over Westgate in the Thunder Bay city finals. It’s a tremendous achievment for the Vikings, who snapped a 15 year title drought, and will be competing for an OFSAA Bowl for the first time since 2008.

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British Columbia

• Thank god the playoffs have arrived, because we don’t think we could handle another week of regular season madness in British Columbia. The latest screwball was South Delta finding a way to defeat Seaquam 35-30, which leaves us with an absolute logjam in the middle of the pack. Incredibly, there are seven programs who finished the regular season 4-2 with them all taking turns beating each other along the way – which made our lives very difficult trying to determine the rankings each week. Now it’s time to truly decide the hierarchy in BC with the six fantastic first round matchups where you’re better off throwing the names into a hat than trying to pick any favourites. All jokes aside, we have loved every second of this wild ride and can’t wait to see who shines the brightest when it matters most on the West Coast.

PAST RANKINGS: WEEK 1 – WEEK 2 – WEEK 3 – WEEK 4 – WEEK 5 – WEEK 6 – WEEK 7 – WEEK 8 – WEEK 9

#	Last	School	City	Prov.	Conf. Rec	Non-Conf. Rec	Results
1	2	Harry Ainlay Titans	Edmonton	AB	9-0	1-0-1	W 43-7 vs. Paul Kane
2	3	Vancouver College Fighting Irish	Vancouver	BC	6-0	4-0	W 42-7 vs. Notre Dame
3	1	Miller Marauders	Regina	SK	8-0	0-0-1	OTW 27-20 vs. LeBoldus
4	4	Saint-Jean-Eudes Condors	Québec	QC	9-0	0-0	BYE
5	5	Huron Heights Warriors	Newmarket	ON	0-0	6-0	W 56-0 vs. St. Peter’s
6	6	Raymond Comets	Raymond	AB	0-0	5-0	W 42-0 vs. Lethbridge CI
7	8	Ernest Manning Griffins	Calgary	AB	8-0	1-0	W 21-14 vs. St. Francis
8	9	Bishop Tonnos Titans	Ancaster	ON	7-0	0-0	W 51-13 vs. Bishop Ryan
9	10	Carson Graham Eagles	North Vancouver	BC	5-1	2-0	W 54-8 vs. Belmont
10	11	Collège Bourget Voltigeurs	Rigaud	QC	8-2	0-0	W 49-8 vs. Academie St-Louis
11	12	Corpus Christi Longhorns	Burlington	ON	8-0	0-0	W 36-12 vs. Bishop Reding
12	13	Dakota Collegiate Lancers	Winnipeg	MB	8-1	0-0	W 24-23 vs. Oak Park
13	19	London South Lions	London	ON	6-1	0-0	W 25-19 vs. Laurier
14	16	St. John Henry Newman Cardinals	Stoney Creek	ON	6-1	0-0	W 26-5 vs. St. Thomas More
15	17	G.W. Graham Grizzlies	Chilliwack	BC	5-1	2-0	W 27-14 vs. Lord Tweedsmuir
16	18	Nelson Lords	Burlington	ON	6-0	2-0	W 42-0 vs. Craig Kielburger
17	UR	Grant Park Pirates	Winnipeg	MB	8-1	0-0	W 24-21 vs. St. Paul’s
18	21	Armand-Corbeil Scorpions	Terrebonne	QC	7-3	0-0	W 21-9 vs. Cure-Antoine-Labelle
19	38	College Notre-Dame Cactus	Montreal	QC	5-5	0-0	W 34-24 vs. Seminaire St-Francois
20	30	Holy Cross Crusaders	Saskatoon	SK	6-2	0-0	W 24-16 vs. St. Joseph
21	32	Leboldus Golden Suns	Regina	SK	5-3	0-0	OTL 27-20 vs. Miller
22	14	Laurier Rams	London	ON	4-3	0-0	L 25-19 vs. South
23	15	Sém. St-François Blizzard	Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaure	QC	7-3	0-0	L 34-24 vs. College Notre-Dame
24	7	St. Paul’s Crusaders	Winnipeg	MB	8-1	0-1	L 24-21 vs. Grant Park
25	27	Oak Park Raiders	Winnipeg	MB	7-2	0-0	L 24-23 vs. Dakota
26	22	Frontenac Falcons	Kingston	ON	6-0	0-0	BYE
27	23	Westmount Wildcats	Hamilton	ON	6-0	0-0	W 36-0 vs. Ancaster
28	28	St. Matthew Tigers	Ottawa	ON	5-0	0-1	W 46-14 vs. St. Joseph
29	24	Holy Names Knights	Windsor	ON	6-0	0-0	W 21-7 vs. Essex
30	25	A. N. Myer Marauders	Niagara Falls	ON	7-0	0-0	W 50-10 vs. Centennial
31	26	St. Mary’s Knights	Sault Ste Marie	ON	8-1	0-0	W 32-2 vs. St. Joseph-Scollard Hall
32	37	St. Francis Browns	Calgary	AB	6-3	1-0	L 21-14 vs. Ernest Manning
33	20	St Joseph Guardians	Saskatoon	SK	5-2	1-1	L 24-16 vs. Holy Cross
34	29	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Welland	ON	7-0	1-0	W 44-0 vs. St. Paul
35	35	St. Andrew’s College Saints	Aurora	ON	4-0	1-0	W 31-6 vs. Trinity College
36	39	Jacob Hespeler Hawks	Cambridge	ON	6-0	0-1	W 40-7 vs. Waterloo-Oxford
37	33	Notre Dame Pride	Calgary	AB	5-2	0-2	L 50-21 vs. St. Francis
38	UR	A.B. Lucas Vikings	London	ON	6-1	0-0	W 27-24 vs. Sir Frederick Banting
39	40	Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers	Surrey	BC	4-2	2-1	L 27-14 vs. G.W. Graham
40	42	Kelowna Owls	Kelowna	BC	4-2	1-2	W 17-6 vs. Mt. Boucherie
41	43	Rutland Voodoo	Kelowna	BC	4-2	2-1	W 42-21 vs. W.J. Mouat
42	45	Paul Kane Blues	St. Albert	AB	6-3	0-1	L 43-7 vs. Harry Ainlay
43	46	Bay View Sharks	Upper Tantallon	NS	5-1	0-0	BYE
44	47	Hammarskjold Vikings	Thunder Bay	ON	7-0-1	0-0	W 14-7 vs. Westgate
48	48	Bear Creek Kodiaks	Barrie	ON	5-0	0-0	Waiting vs. Collingwood
49	UR	Bishop Macdonell Celtics	Guelph	ON	6-1	0-0	W 29-18 vs. St. James
45	UR	South Delta Sun Devils	Delta	BC	4-2	2-1	W 35-30 vs. Seaquam
46	41	Seaquam Seahawks	Delta	BC	4-2	2-0	L 35-30 vs. South Delta
47	44	St. Thomas More Knights	Burnaby	BC	4-2	2-1	W 35-13 vs. New Westminster
50	36	Kennebecasis Crusaders	Quispamsis	NB	7-1	0-0	L 21-7 vs. Riverview