OFC SEASON RECAP: “This season was full of growth and development”

Wolverines 2016 season ends prematurely with loss in Ramsay Final

Although the Peterborough Wolverines Varsity squad came two wins short of their ultimate goal, it was still a very rewarding season for a team that graduated two thirds of its 2015 roster.

The team won their first five games of the season, and ended up finishing with a 6-2 record in the regular season. This was good for a 2nd place finish in the OFC North.

The season started on May 28 with a 28-1 win on home turf over the North Halton Crimson Tide, whom they would later face in the Ramsay Division Semi-Final. Then in week two, the Wolverines would travel to Vaughan, where they came away with a 32-8 victory over the lowly Rebels to move to 2-0

Week 3 saw the Wolverines return home to face the Sudbury Gladiators. Peterborough would, once again, come out on top, winning 37-17. Through three games, the Wolverines allowed all of 26 points, while scoring 97, had a 3-0 record, and were leading the Ramsay Division. The next week, the undefeated Wolverines hosted the Oakville Titans. Oakville was 1-2 coming in, and as it turned out, would not win another game. The Wolverines were firing on all cylinders, offensively and defensively, and shut out the Titans 40-0. The first piece of bad news would come in that one, as the Wolverines lost starting quarterback Ryan Astrom for the season, meaning 2nd-stringer Rylan Gwynn would be pressed into action.

Week 5 saw the Wolves head back out on the road to take on the Huronia Stallions on June 25. Gwynn was impressive in his first start under centre, tossing three touchdown passes en route to a 29-23 win for Peterborough. With that win, the club was 5-0 heading into a much deserved bye week.

Coming off the bye, they hosted the 2015 Ramsay Conference Champion Toronto Jr. Argos, who were sitting at 5-1 through their first six games. With a win, Toronto would leapfrog Peterborough into first place in the Conference at 6-1, while Peterborough looked to stay on the winning track. However, their depth at quarterback would really be tested when Gwynn, who was starting in place of Astrom, also went down with a season-ending injury. This forced Chase Batley to step up and handle the reigns for the remainder of the season. Batley performed well in his first action at pivot, but the Wolverines were unable to pull out the victory, dropping a heartbreaker 28-27. The loss dropped them into second place in the North Division.

Week 7 featured a matchup between the Wolverines and the 1-5 Nipissing Wild on July 16. The Wolverines went into North Bay and stymied the Wild offence, while also having a relatively easy time with their defence. By game’s end, the Wolverines had secured their second shutout of 2016, and a 28-0 victory, moving them to 6-1 heading into their season finale in Burlington. The game in Burlington was one to forget for Peterborough, as they were taken to task by a superb Stampeders team. They could not get anything going on offence, nor could their defence thwart the relentless Burlington onslaught. Burlington took the victory 51-3, dropping the Wolverines to 6-2 and setting up a 2v3 Ramsay Semi-Final matchup with North Halton.

That game would take place in Peterborough at Thomas A. Stewart S.S. Both offences struck early and often in this one, and it was a back and forth game all throughout. Batley threw for a couple major scores in what would be a nail-biting 31-28 win for Peterborough, which would advance them to the Ramsay Conference Final to face the Sudbury Gladiators, who pulled off a surprise win over the #1 seed Argos. Because of the upset, the Wolverines earned the opportunity to host that game on August 6. That one was a much different game for the Wolverines, who, after benefiting from numerous breaks against North Halton, were able to take advantage of few Sudbury miscues. That combined with a solid road game from Glads resulted in a 21-19 Sudbury victory, sending the four seed all the way to the provincial championship, and sending the Wolverines home early.

While the Wolverines were denied a chance to play for Ontario football supremacy and won’t be satisfied until the trophy is in hand, Head Coach John Parkes is still extremely pleased with the effort his players put forth.

“From day one we had taken on this season as a journey to discover what kind of team we could be. Knowing we were a team primarily made up of 16 and 17 year olds, we knew we would face many challenges along the way and we did,” he said of the season. “Proud of my players? Yes; they put in the hours and have become better players for it. Are we satisfied? No; we know where we went wrong and what we need to do to improve as we move forward toward next season.”

The Wolverines might be preparing for the biggest game of their lives had they been able to pounce on mistakes made by the Glads, which makes last week’s loss all the more difficult to take.

“We had our opportunities to win vs Sudbury, but could never seem to capitalize. It was a big game and unfortunately we came up on the short end of the stick,” alluded Parkes. “That will give us something to fuel ourselves moving forward. Each game serves as a lesson whether you win or lose; we will take what we learned on Saturday and add it to the fire for next season.”

Parkes says he saw a ton of improvement from week-to-week, and even day-to-day from his team, and although they battled the injury bug all season, were able to stick together and win ball games.

“This season was full of growth and development for this team. Our coaching staff worked extremely hard this season getting these young men to the level they are currently at,” he expressed. “Being such a young group of players, we knew we had a lot of work to do at the start of the season, but it only seemed to add to the excitement of the season. Every single week we were hit with a major injury and this forced the next man up to take the stage on game day. It was great to see that our players were able to take on these challenges and step up to fill in when needed.”

When asked who the biggest surprise was for the Wolverines this season, the coach said it was impossible to decipher between one or two players.

“We had so many players step up and rise to the occasion this season that it is very hard to pick out one or two,” Parkes said. “With so many injuries this season, opportunity for the next man up was huge. Our players embraced these opportunities knowing they were getting a shot to make a difference.”

What do the Wolverines have to do to take the next step and bring home that elusive provincial title? The bench boss has the answer.

“Off season development for our returning Senior players and the Juniors who will be joining us in 2017 will be key to our success. Finding new talent in our community that we may be able to add to what we have returning will also play a role,” elaborated Parkes, whose Varsity squad has now lost two consecutive Ramsay Finals. “This season has helped us grow as a team and will be the first building block as we look toward the 2017 season. The off season will give us time to evaluate ourselves and get us reloaded for a new chapter of Wolverines football.”

The Head Coach also gives us a sneak peak of what to expect from the 2017 version of the Wolverines.

“With the majority of the roster returning for the 2017 season and the coaching staff looking to keep this journey going I expect 2017 to be a very exiting year for our program,” he said. “With an extra year of experience under our belts, it can only help make us stronger as we set our sights on the 2017 OFC Championship.”