Feature photo credit: Ryan McCabe
In the main event that everyone was waiting for, neither team backed down, but in the end it was the #CFC50 Herman Green Griffins who prevailed 13-7 over the #CFC50 Huron Heights Warriors in the Western Bowl.
Defence was the name of the game with neither team gaining over 200 yards of offence, and 59 combined passing yards on 16 attempts. The Warriors famous veer offence was no match for the top defence in the nation, who seemed to swarm like bees to the ball no matter what type of deception Huron Heights threw at them. The same can be said for Herman who struggled to gain traction throughout the game, but when the final whistle blew they did just enough to come away with the victory.
“We knew what they were doing from the start, and that one touchdown they had we just broke down.” says #CFC100 two-way star Quintin Seguin. “We prepared well, and we had to be disciplined, they are a very good team. They shut our offence down which doesn’t happen very often, I think a lot of our mistakes on offence were our own fault, but Huron Heights is an amazing team hats off to them.”
Herman opened the scoring deep into the first quarter after Zach Goertzen connected on a 15 yard field goal for the only points of the opening frame.
The game would stay that way with each team taking turns punting the ball back and forth until Michael Beale found the end zone on a one yard plunge to give Herman a 10-0 lead heading into halftime.
Huron Heights kept their heads held high and came out battling in the second half, but by the end of the third quarter they had allowed another Goertzen field goal to see their deficit increase to 13-0.
The game would take an unexpected turn late in the fourth quarter as Aiden Mielczarek dashed 45 yards to the end zone to finally crack the goose egg for Huron Heights, and with just 2:46 remaining all of a sudden the Warriors were within striking distance.
And, boy, did they come close to pulling it off. With a minute remaining, disaster struck as Herman fumbled and watched Huron Heights pick it up and start rumbling. It seemed as though he had all sorts of room to make his way to the end zone, until Branden McCraney saved the day by making a shoestring tackle at their own 30 yard line. Two plays later, the Griffins defence clamped down on any comeback efforts as an errant third down pass sailed long, giving Herman their unprecedented fifth straight OFSAA bowl title.
Photo credit: Ryan McCabe
“There has always been a legacy, Herman is known for football.” Seguin says. “We have won the city championships nine years in a row, and back when I came in grade nine we were on our fifth-peat. Back to when Jared Lewis played, there has always been amazing Herman players, so we had high expectations right from the start.”
Dante Lewis was impressive for Herman finishing with 56 yards on 12 carries, while Kaine Stevenson led the way with five catches for 38 yards. On the other side, Mielczarek finished with 77 yards yards on nine carries and was inches away from busting quite a few of those runs, while Daniel Stefanyk led the Warriors’ defensive effort with a team high six tackles.
Another generation of Herman stars have now come and gone, and to put their dynasty into perspective you have to realize a guy like Seguin has no idea what it is like not win a championship,
“Man it’s crazy” says Seguin. “I have been with these guys my whole life, so it is kind of surreal leaving. I have played with my friend Cody Holmes now for eight or nine years, this is my 13th year of football, so it’s emotional. But it’s great to leave on a good note.”
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