The North Park Trojans claimed first place in the varsity boys football division of the Athletics Association of Brant Haldimand Norfolk after their 30-10 win against the Assumption College Lions on Saturday, October 30.
Both teams boasted a 4-0 regular season record heading into the game, and the Lions were favoured to win.
In the first quarter, the teams took their time to adapt to one another’s style of play. The Trojans broke through halfway through the quarter to run over 50 yards for a touchdown. A flag on the play determined unnecessary roughness on the offence resulting in the play being overturned. For the remainder of the quarter, the teams swapped possession multiple times, unable to capitalize. The first quarter ended scoreless.
The Trojans didn’t take long to get heated up in the second quarter. After their quarterback got sacked, they went for the touchdown play on the third down and were successful. The Lions defence was able to block the point after to give the Trojans a 6-0 lead.
The Lions were unable to make anything happen when they got the ball, and punted it to the Trojans who got great field position on the return. On their first play of possession, the Trojans headed down the field for another touchdown and a successful conversion, extending their lead to 13-0. On the Lions second down, North Park intercepted a pass to get the ball back. Once again, on their first play, they headed down the field for another touchdown to make it 20-0.
On the Lions next possession, the Trojans sacked the Lions quarterback in the endzone for a safety.
As the Lions trailed 22-0 with little time left in the half, they made some big plays to head down the field. They gave up possession but got it back with enough time to make a final push. In the dying seconds of the second quarter, the Lions made a huge touchdown pass. The point after was good, to end the half with a score of 22-7 in favour of the Trojans.
The third quarter was much less eventful than the second quarter. The Lions looked much stronger, controlling possession for most of the quarter. The only scoring play of the quarter was an ACS field goal. At the end of the third quarter, the Trojans led 22-10.
Tensions ran high in the fourth quarter between players, coaches and referees after a Trojans interception in the endzone led to confusion on the field. Once the referees got everything sorted out on the field, North Park made their way down the field.
Trojans extended their lead to 29-10 with another touchdown and conversion in the last minute of the game. Chaos on the punt return resulted in two Lions colliding in an attempt to catch the ball. When they finally got a hold of it, the Trojans tackled them in the endzone for another safety. The Lions fought hard down the field but time expired for a 31-10 final score, improving the Trojans record to 5-0.
