HAMILTON – On Saturday, Team Central battled Team West in a freshman match-up at the Ontario Prospect Challenge. With so many high quality performers, four MVPs were named with Mike Warner of Team West, Israel Braithwaite of Team Central, Josh Munoz of Team West and Joshua Mascoll-Mederois of Team West taking home the game’s honours.
Warner, a quarterback who wore #8 red, was the game’s Overall MVP.
“I was a little surprised. I don’t really know. It’s tough. It was just a great game. My offense did a great job. They really helped me get this again, same thing as last year. Offense did the whole thing,” he said.
When asked about his highlight of the game, he said, “Probably that back corner, end zone to my good receiver Seth [Robertson, #84, REC], or the one at the beginning of the game.”
Gary Gerard, the head coach of Team West, said that, “Our quarterback, Michael Warner, had a lights out game.”
Lee Barette, who was part of the MVP Selection Committee, was impressed with what he saw from Warner.
“Aside from leading his team to most of the winning touchdown drives, it was just a different offense when he was on the field,” Barette said of Warner.
“The kid made plays all over the field. They had a nice offensive system, which I think helped him and his receivers made a lot of great catches for him. But, by far, when he was on the field, it was just a different vibe to the whole game and you could see he was the best player on the field.”
Israel Braithwaite (#28) with Gary Gerard (left) and Shawn McIntyre (right).
The Offensive MVP award was given to both Braithwaite (#28) and Munoz (#30) When Braithwaite was given the award first, he said, “It was pretty cool. I enjoyed the game. It was a good experience and I hope I impressed some coaches. Probably the catch in the end zone to Bruno Moss [was the highlight].”
Shawn McIntyre, Head Coach of Team Central, said that Israel Braithwaite was an easy choice. “He really showed that he was above and beyond a lot of the kids out there. He was outrunning everybody today,” he said.
McIntyre added that, “There were several jump balls that he always came down with. In a game where you’re looking at individual performances, this kid went out and came down with the ball every time they got it to him.”
Josh Munoz (#30) with Gary Gerard (left) and Shawn McIntyre (right).
When asked about his reaction to being named Co-MVP, Munoz was quick to deflect the praise to his teammates.
“Well, I have nothing. It wasn’t myself, it was my team. The blocking was phenomenal. It was just teamwork,” he said. “My touchdown right here, like that was not me. That was my blockers. That was my wide receivers. Not me, not me at all. Just my blockers.”
While Munoz didn’t want to praise himself, Barette was glad to give the young running back some credit.
“Josh Munoz, just the whole game he ran the ball really well. When they needed yards, when they weren’t throwing the ball with Michael Warner, he was making some great yards,” he said.
Joshua Mascoll-Mederois with Gary Gerard (left) and Shawn McIntyre (right).
Offenses tend to steal the show in football, but that didn’t draw attention away from Mascoll-Mederois, who was named the defensive player of the game. “[I was] surprised,” Mascoll-Mederois said when he was given the award.
“But I’m glad that I got help from my teammates. They helped me very well. We played great defensibly and we locked them down. [Highlight was] when me and my three other lineman got a sack together. That was pretty fun,” he added.
“Mascoll-Mederois, a defensive end from the West, just put a lot more pressure on. The West Team got more pressure on the quarterback, which is one of the reasons their quarterback didn’t perform as well and he led the charge on the pressure,” Barette said.
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