Final 4 have earned their spots, Who will punch 2 tickets to the dance?
For once, the regular season record didn’t lie. The top four seeds have advanced to the semi-finals of the OYMFL, setting up two intriguing matchups later this month.
Can the upstart squad from Downsview – as yappy and vocal as any first-year team ever – put their game where their mouths are and take down the mighty T-West?
Can Toronto East, two years removed from the Redemption Bowl, put together the masterpiece it will take to keep Mount Olive from a fifth straight appearance in the OYMFL championships?
The Downsview-Toronto West contest will go first, August 18. Time and location is pending permit approval. Mount Olive will continue its defense of its title on Saturday night Aug. 24 at Mississauga Valleys.
This year’s playoff schedule turned topsy-turvy in order to accommodate the international pathfinder camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Some of the league’s younger players will be part of 45,000 pathfinders meeting from August 10 to 18.
Results from the quarterfinals give little insight into what to expect when the top four teams meet. The 2019 season has shown that fortunes fluctuate wildly from one game to the next. And much of the inconsistency can be attributed to team rosters that can suddenly be missing key players.
When the Downsview Dawgs meet the T-West Saints the Dawgs will not need a motivation speech to get up for the game. The Saints took apart Downsview’s vaunted defence, dropping 48 points on the Dawgs. Expect a much stiffer challenge this time – a dog-fight, really.
But it will take more than will power to beat the Saints, looking to go to their third straight championship game. (They won in 2017 and lost in 2018, both against Mt. Olive). The Dawgs must put the teeth to an all-star squad that can score from multiple positions. Andrew Brimpong, Darnell James, Dan George, Flavio Alfico and Sheldon James are a handful for any defense. And they have Andrew Heaney slinging the rock.
And when the boys take a rest, the girls are more than capable of carrying the load. The last time both teams met, Ellen Bruna Alencar embarrassed the Downsview defense with multiple scores. If Downsview designs something to stop her in the rematch, the Saints can turn to Tiffany Hall and Thalia Wright, among others, to pick up the slack.
Dawgs’ Quarterback Germaine Clarke will be looking to Sheldon Maxham, Brandon Andrew and Nick Deslandes to lead the charge. If they can cut loose, bolstered by the fiercely competitive Shaun Ross and Craig Farrier, the dogs could be yelping into the finals.
Olive versus East promises a delicious feast.
East has firepower in elite girls Jasmine Phipps and Amanda Davidson plus a cast of supporting girls that can confound a defense with an all-female look. And, most dangerously, they have Nathaniel Pinto, as dangerous a receiver as there is in the league. If QB Carnel Baugh is on point, Olive will need every ounce of their experience and championship pedigree to hold off the Titans.
But if there is a team equipped to handle East, it is the veteran squad from Mt. Olive.
Led by the irrepressible QB Karl Brown, Mt. Olive has been in four straight championship games, winning three, After beating Toronto West last season, Mt. Olive lost three significant pieces from their championship squad when Nick Deslandes, Germaine Clarke and Tenesha Hardie defected to the new team at Downsview. They left to join another Mt. Olive alumnus in Craig Farrier, who left the Triumph in 2018.
Most teams would have been decimated, but the Triumph started the season slowly and have now peaked at the right time. After Cleon Holmes defected from T-West and turbo boosted the Olive scoring in 2018, he was joined by sidekick Ty Edwards for 2019. Brown added Sean Sheperd and he has been a late-season treasure – scoring three touchdowns in the quarter-finals against Toronto Perth.
Besides, they still have veterans Ezekiel Marksman, Lamar Lazarus and Petagaye McIntosh, making the squad a tough, tough out.
In the quarterfinals, Toronto West won convincingly (33-14) over Kanisa and Mt. Olive thumped the Perth Panthers, 30-14. Top seed Toronto East struggled mightily against Apple Creek, pulling out a heart-stopping 19-18 win. And Philadelphia took Downsview down to the wire before falling,
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