Falcons de-Claw Panthers
The Frontenac Falcons, led by running back Harry Robinson, won the 2015 Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Association AAA senior football championships on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The bleachers of LCVI secondary school in Kingston were overflowing with loyal fans who braved the near freezing temperatures to cheer their teams on.
The Regiopolis Notre-Dame Panthers, victorious against the Frontenac Falcons 16-15 in a nail biter earlier this season, discovered the Falcons to be vastly improved team and a much tougher test in the playoffs.
“We’ve put some kids into different spots. I think we have more of the pieces in the right place compared to the first game of the season. So we’ve moved some kids around and solidified some positions, so that’s a big difference from the start of the season,” said Mike Doyle, head coach of the Frontenac Falcons during the pregame warm-ups.
Although both teams ended the season with five wins and one loss, their paths to the championship game were hugely different.
“Our last regular season game was forfeited by Bay Ridge, and because we finished in first, we got a bye into the finals. We’ve had a three-week wait for this game,” said Ryan Poser, head coach of the Regiopolis Notre-Dame Panthers.
“Practice pace is one thing, but game pace is a totally different story,” said Poser.
While the Panthers hadn’t played since they dismantled the Ernestown Eagles 34-0, on Oct. 22, the Falcons were battling it out with Holy Cross just four days ago on Nov. 10.
“They got a bye going into the final, where we actually played a game last Tuesday, so we feel fairly ready to go, game ready,” said Doyle.
As ready as both the Falcons and the Panthers claimed to be, the first half was sloppily played and fraught with errors by both teams. In the last two minutes of the first half alone, there were five turnovers, two by the Falcons and three by the Panthers.
The bizarre series of plays began when Panthers’ quarterback Quniton Auty, was picked off by defensive back Tristan Halladay. Two plays later, Falcon quarterback Brendan Steele, threw an interception of his own to Panthers’ defensive back, Anthony Rego. Rego returned the interception into scoring position at the Frontenac 20-yard line. However, on the very next play, Auty threw another interception, this one to Devon Parris who was camped inside the Falcons’ end zone. Parris ran the interception out of the end zone to the Frontenac 25-yard line where he fumbled it, allowing Regiopolis to maintain possession. On the next play, Auty was once again intercepted in the end zone, this time by Halladay, making it Halladay’s second interception in less than two minutes. The first half ended with the Panthers leading the Falcons 7 - 6.
Although the temperatures were hovering around freezing, the Panthers chose to spend half-time outdoors on the field, in their end zone going over strategy. The Falcons, on the other hand, took advantage of the opportunity to retreat into LVCI secondary school and take shelter from the cold.
“I think anytime you can get kids warmer, they’re going to play better. It took us a little more time to go in and come back out but I think our kids just needed to bring their excitement level down a little bit, and I think that helped. They went in and it was real quiet and they seemed to come out a little more focused in the second half,” said Doyle.
That renewed focus was evident right from the outset of the second half. On the first play of the second half, the Falcons forced and recovered a Panther fumble. They followed it up with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Steele, to Jacob Magee, taking the lead 13 – 7. After the ensuing kick-off, Falcon’s defensive back Brody Warren picked off another Auty pass, making it the fifth interception by the Falcons’ defense in the game so far.
As the Panthers’ mistakes began to mount, the Falcons offense began to pour it on. With about two minutes left in the third quarter, the Falcons returned a punt from deep in their own territory. Breaking through sloppy arm tackles, the punt was returned deep into Panther territory. This excellent field position led to another third-quarter touchdown for the Falcons, increasing their lead to 14 points. As the third quarter ended, the Panthers’ excitement and fighting spirit from early on seemed all but gone.
The fourth-quarter saw the Falcons’ running attack, led by Harry Robinson take over. Robinson broke off two long touchdown runs of 55 and 45-yards, giving him more than two hundred all-purpose yards for the game, ending any hope of a Panther comeback.
When the final whistle blew, it was the Frontenac Falcons beating the Regiopolis Notre-Dame Panthers 35-14 to win the Rob Druce Memorial Trophy and advance to the OFSA finals on Dec. 2, in Hamilton.
The MVP and winner of the Wayne Norris trophy was number 26 Harry Robinson of the Frontenac Falcons for his outstanding effort and performance.
