November 29, 2019
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OFSAA Bowl Series (PREVIEWS/UPDATES)

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National Capital Bowl – 10:00am
CFC50 Westmount Wildcats (SOSSA #2/Southern Ontario) v.s Ashbury Colts (NCSSAA/National Capital)

The final day of the OFSAA Bowl Series kicks off with a stellar matchup between the Westmount Wildcats from Hamilton and the Ashbury Colts from Ottawa.

Westmount are making their first ever appearance at the big dance, and should be feeling confident about their chances after running through the public side of Hamilton this season. The Wildcats finished the regular season 4-0 outscoring their opponents 151-15 in the process, and were able to fend off Sir Winston Churchill in the finals to punch a ticket to the OFSAA Festival. They were unable to secure the top seed in SOSSA after falling to CFC50 Notre Dame, but that should just add a little extra motivation to end the year off on the ultimate high.

On the other sideline we’ve got Ashbury, who’re looking to make it back-to-back after defeating Chaminade College in their first appearance at OFSAA last year. You never know when a dynasty is about to arise, but the Colts have a chance to begin something special in Ottawa if they can find a way to smother Westmount’s attack. They were tasked with winning their league to secure their spot at the show alongside 11 other programs in the region, and despite dropping a regular season game to top seed St. Matthew, they turned around their fortunes in the playoffs eventually knocking off Colonel By 42-12 in the finals.

UPDATE: WESTMOUNT DEFEATS ASHBURY

Western Bowl – 1:00pm
CFC50 Huron Heights Warriors (YRAA/York Region) v.sΒ CFC50 A. B. Lucas Vikings (WOSSAA/Western Ontario)

The big match on day three will feature a top ten clash between the Huron Heights Warriors from New Market, and the A.B. Lucas Vikings from London.

This will be Lucas’ third appearance at the OFSAA Bowl Series, and their first since defeating Paul Dwyer in 2014. London is notoriously one of the toughest regions to get out of, and although they’ve had OFSAA worthy teams, they could never find a way to best CFC50 South and Catholic Central in recent years. Well that all changed in 2019 with the Vikings going 5-0 in the regular season, and destroyed their cross-town rivals South in the finals 38-20. They then turned their attention to the reigning city champions, and were able to finally get over the hump again with a tight 24-17 victory over Catholic Central. They are one of the most battle tested teams at OFSAA this year, but that won’t make much of a difference once you read the road Huron Heights has been down.

The Warriors are one of the perennial OFSAA contenders making their seventh appearance at the festival, and also one of the most experienced teams in the province after taking on challenges from every corner this season. The YRAA no longer houses a tier one division with Huron Heights the only program left standing, so instead they competed with the CISSA private programs, and absolutely thrashed them going 6-0 in the regular season, and pulled off a decisive 42-6 victory over St. Andrew’s College in the finals. Add on the handful of American competition they’ve faced as well this year, and there’s no reason why the Warriors shouldn’t be feeling confident going up against the champs from London.

UPDATE: HURON HEIGHTS DEFEATS A.B. LUCAS

Northern Bowl – 3:30pm
CFC50 Korah Colts (NOSSA/Northern Ontario) v.s Holy Cross Hurricanes (COSSA/Central Ontario)Β 

Our final matchup of the OFSAA Bowl Series will feature the Korah Colts from Sault Ste. Marie, and the Holy Cross Hurricanes from Peterborough.

After spending years knocking on every door looking for a way to get through, Korah are now making their second straight appearance at OFSAA with a chance to double up their banner count. Everybody knew the Colts were the team to beat heading into the season, but that didn’t have any effect on the end results with Korah finishing with a flawless 6-0 record, including a 42-3 beatdown over St. Mary’s in the city finals, and a 41-0 blowout over West Ferris in the NOSSA finals. They shocked a lot of people with the amount of talent they displayed at last year’s festival, and should be ready to shine again after arguably a better year than last.

On the other sideline we’ve got the Hurricanes, who’re in the exact same position as Korah last year making their first appearance at OFSAA. They’re coming into the big game with an 8-1 record overall, and after their magical playoff run, the one loss looks like nothing more than a fluke. When it mattered down the stretch, Holy Cross outscored their three playoff opponents 139-41, which included Thomas A. Stewart, who’re the program they lost to in the regular season. It’s going to be uncharted territory facing a hungry Colts squad, but if they can handle a couple early blows, there’s no reason why the Hurricanes can’t come away victorious after four quarters.

UPDATE: KORAH DEFEATS HOLY CROSS

Metro Bowl – 10:00am
CFC50 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (SOSSA #1/Southern Ontario) v.s CFC50 Chaminade College Gryphons (TDCAA/Toronto Catholic)

Day two of the OFSAA Bowl Series kicks off with an intriguing matchup between the Chaminade College Gryphons from Toronto, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from Welland.

Chaminade College and Michael Power/St. Joseph are the only Catholic programs competing on the tier one circuit in Toronto, which led to an automatic bid and a long break for the Gryphons while the rest of the programs fought for the Public spot at OFSAA. They earned the bid after going 5-0 during league play, and also tested their skills against two American programs going 1-1, so they should be more than prepared for the bright lights despite having a lengthy break between competitive games. This will be Chaminade’s fourth appearance at OFSAA with their first coming in a triumph over Sir Allan MacNab from the SOSSA region in 2014, and many players are back from last year’s roster who fell to Ashbury College in the Independent Bowl.

On the other sideline, Notre Dame are making their second appearance at the OFSAA Festival, and they’re hoping it goes better than the first when they ran into CFC50 top ranked St. Thomas More. They’re a group full of confidence after going 6-0 in regular season play while outscoring their opponents 238-33, and in their three playoff matchups they tallied a 107-12 score differential. If they can use the same mentality to smother the Gryphons early while they’re still trying to get their feet back under them, it could be a very long day, but if they manage to keep the score tight going into the fourth quarter, it’ll be unfamiliar territory for a program that recorded five shutouts in nine games this year.

RELATED CONTENT: RECRUITING TIPS

UPDATE: CHAMINADE COLLEGE DEFEATS NOTRE DAME

Golden Horseshoe Bowl – 1:00pm
CFC50 W. F. Herman Green Griffins (SWOSSAA/South Western Ontario) v.s CFC50 St. Thomas More Knights (GHAC #1/Golden Horseshoe)

The matchup everybody is waiting for at OFSAA this year will feature the number one ranked St. Thomas More Knights from Hamilton taking on the former number one ranked W. F. Herman Green Griffins from Windsor.

Some may have forgotten after two years of Knights dominance, but it was Herman who set the standard in Ontario winning a record five straight OFSAA titles from 2012-2016. The dynasty eventually came to an end with the rise of CFC50 Holy Names, but the Green Griffins were determined to get back to the big dance this year, and they left zero doubts about who the best team in Windsor was defeating their rivals twice by a combined score of 84-25. They’ve already enacted their revenge on Holy Names, and now they have a chance to potentially reclaim the number one ranking in Ontario if they can defeat St. Thomas More.

It’s a little like looking in the mirror for these two programs, and it seems appropriate if the Knights are going to tie Herman’s record for most OFSAA titles in a row, they should have to beat them to clinch the deal. You have to flip through a few calendars to find their last loss, and STM didn’t slow down at all this season going 8-0 while outscoring their opponents 350-16 in Hamilton. Their opponents in the GHAC Semifinals decided to forfeit instead, and they dominated CFC50 Nelson in the GHAC Finals to keep their streak alive going into OFSAA. The streak will come to an end eventually, but this group of Knights are hoping it’s not on their watch, and certainly not on “home” turf at McMaster.

RELATED CONTENT:Β CFC100, CFC150 & CFC60 player class RANKINGS ‘need to know’ facts

UPDATE: ST. THOMAS MORE DEFEATS W.F. HERMAN

Central Bowl – 3:30pm
CFC50 St. Marcellinus Spirit (ROPSSAA/Peel) v.s CFC50 Paul Dwyer Saints (LOSSA/Durham)

The final matchup of day two features the St. Marcellinus Spirit from Mississauga taking on the Paul Dwyer Saints from Durham.

These are two of the rare OFSAA regions that have very simple formats – win your league. Unfortunately St. Marcy has seen their tier one league shrink around them in recent years, but that hasn’t changed their standard on the field. The Spirit took care of business against St. Roch, Lorne Park and David Suzuki going 7-0 in league play while outscoring their opponents 226-48. They’ll now have a chance to become the first Spirit team to bring home a provincial banner, and are only the second to even make it to OFSAA.

Paul Dwyer had a couple more rivals to deal with along their path to OFSAA, but none bigger than local juggernaut Holy Trinity from Courtice. The Titans were the team to beat riding the momentum of a lengthy winning streak and back-to-back OFSAA titles, but it all came to crashing halt with Paul Dwyer defeating them 30-10 in the final game of the regular season, and they bested them again in the LOSAA Championship to book their ticket to Hamilton. This will be the third appearance at OFSAA for Paul Dwyer, with their only win coming back in 2015 against St. Joan of Arc.

UPDATE: ST. MARCELLINUS DEFEATS PAUL DWYER

Tuesday, November 26th

Simcoe Bowl – 10:00am
Westgate Tigers (NWOSSAA/Thunder Bay) v.s St. Joan of Arc Knights (GBSSA/Georgian Bay)

The festivities kickoff bright and early at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton with the Westgate Tigers from Thunder Bay taking on the St. Joan of Arc Knights from Barrie.

For Westgate, this is their third chance at OFSAA glory after making a magical run through the region. The regular season didn’t exactly how they imagined finishing with a 2-3-1 record, but none of that mattered come playoff time with the Tigers upsetting second seed Hammarskjold in the semifinals, and then blanking top seed St. Ignatius 18-0 in the city finals to secure a spot at OFSAA. Now they have a chance to solidify their place in history bringing home a provincial banner for the first time since 2007.

It’s going to be a tough task with St. Joan of Arc on the other sideline, who’re making their second straight appearance at OFSAA, and fifth in school history. After finding success in their first trip back in 2013, the Knights have failed to bring home the ultimate prize, so there’ll be a lot of motivation for the returning players to finish the job this time around. It was a strange road to Hamilton with only two active teams participating on their senior circuit, but the Knights were still prepared come playdown time when they dispatched Barrie North 26-11 in the GBSSA Finals, proving once again they’re the team to beat winning the regional crown six of the last eight years.

RELATED CONTENT:Β Add your highlight video for FREEΒ 

UPDATE: WESTGATE DEFEAT ST. JOAN OF ARCΒ 

 

Independent Bowl – 1:00pm
CFC50 Assumption Lions (CWOSSA/Central Western Ontario) v.sΒ CFC50 Nelson Lords (GHAC #2/Golden Horseshoe)

Game two features our first CFC50 showdown of the week with the Nelson Lords from Burlington facing off against the Assumption Lions from Brantford.

Nelson can be considered one of the historic OFSAA programs with their first appearance coming way back in 1997, and will be making their sixth trip after defeating local rivals CFC50 Corpus Christi 36-8 in the GHAC semifinals. The Lords also hold the unique distinction of never being defeated at OFSAA holding a perfect 5-0 record, so you can always expect a motivated program whenever they arrive at the big dance. They were dominant in league play outscoring opponents 273-39 in six games, but they’ll still be walking into Ron Joyce Stadium with a bad taste in their mouth dropping the GHAC Final to CFC50 St. Thomas More last week, which should help them prepare after testing their skills against the top team in Canada.

Nelson will need all the motivation they can get with Assumption riding high after writing a fairy tale story in the CWOSSA playdowns. CFC50 Jacob Hespeler owned the region for three straight years, but the Lions brought an end to their reign with a massive upset in the semifinals, then took care of business in the finals against St. David to book a spot at the festival for the first time since 2014. This is their third trip to OFSAA in the program’s history, and this group of Lions are hoping to become the second to ever win it all. This might be their toughest matchup yet, but after slaying the Hespeler giant, anything is possible for Assumption in 2019.

RELATED CONTENT:Β CFC100, CFC150 & CFC60 player class RANKINGS ‘need to know’ facts

UPDATE: NELSON DEFEATS ASSUMPTION

Eastern Bowl – 3:30pm
Richview Saints (TDSSAA/Toronto Public) v.sΒ Holy Cross Crusaders (EOSSAA/Eastern Ontario)

Our final matchup on day one features the Richview Saints from Toronto taking on the Holy Cross Crusaders from Kingston.

Richview are another historical OFSAA program with their first appearance coming in the coveted Metro Bowl days in 1991, and this will be the fourth trip after they expanded the format in 2013. Last time they were squared off against Michael Power/St. Joseph, who’re a local program in Toronto, so this matchup should be a lot more exciting to prepare for with a sense of mystery surrounding their opponents. The Saints went 4-1 in regular season play, and met little resistance on their path to OFSAA defeating Lawrence Park 35-0 in the semis, and Northern 31-17 in the finals.

Holy Cross on the other hand are newer to the OFSAA scene, but they’ve already found success defeating Thomas A. Stewart in their first appearance last season. It looked like they not be making it back this year after Frontenac ran the table with a perfect 6-0 regular season – including a 45-1 victory against Holy Cross – but the Crusaders flipped the script when the lights were shining the brightest defeating their rivals 19-15 in the finals. They then slipped past Arnprior 7-3 in the EOSSAA semifinals, and capped off their unexpected regional run with an easy 35-7 victory over St. Joseph’s. They’ve got plenty of experience to rely on from last year’s championship squad, and this could be the beginning of a special run in Kingston if they can go back-to-back.

RELATED CONTENT: RECRUITING TIPS

UPDATE: HOLY CROSS DEFEATS RICHVIEW

 

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