Redemption Bowl: East 23, Kanisa 22

Conquerors close but miss out again; vow to continue the chase in 2018

East QB tells T-West: “Meet you in the finals next season”

The great thing about second chances is everybody deserves one. And the Toronto East Titans made good use of theirs last Sunday with a thrilling 23-22 victory over Kanisa Conquerors.

Even as Toronto West celebrated their OYMFL championship win, Toronto East set about salvaging a season that did not go according to plans.

A perennial contender, East has landed on hard times and missed the championship rung of the playoffs. But instead of pouting, the team rallied to finish strong and made it to the ultimate second chance game — the Redemption Bowl.

Like the regular season of 2017, East trailed the entire game before rallying to snatch victory from defeat.

“Just  like the Titans we are, we kept it together,” said quarterback Carnel Baugh. “We fought, we dug deep, we stuck  to the game plan. We were in a hole to start the game but we did not quit.”

Baugh considered the game a personal test as well as a growing up moment for his team. Having missed three games because of an illness, Baugh feels the team might have won at least one of those games and made it into the championship rung of the playoffs. They did not and Baugh is not making excuses.

In fact, he says he’s just thankful to God for helping him get well and for the privilege of playing.

“I knew we had to win this game, because there was so much at stake, for me personally. I wanted this game more than anything else. I  wanted to prove that we belong here, and that we can run with the big boys. To show our fans that the Titans are for real,  that we do have a team that will compete to the last minute.”

That they did. Baugh scored one and passed forTDs to Shushana Harris and Ruth Reynolds and Jeremy Anderson. The girls TD, worth seven points compared to boys score for five points, proved to be the difference.

Backed by a monster game and three TDs from Cecil Lewis,  Kanisa went out in front and seemed positioned to win their first title, be that OYMFL championship or consolation Redemption Bowl.

Team manager Andy Marshall explains Kanisa’s thinking and approach.

“The Redemption Bowl is a good idea.  Everyone has something to play for, even if the regular season doesn’t go too well.  Our team looked forward to playing playoff football.

 “We had a lot of things go right in the game.  Our deception play worked like a charm in the first half, leading to our first touchdown.  We moved the ball well.  Cecil Lewis had his best game of the season, with three TDs.  Our offence scored four TDs in the game. Usually when that happens it’s a W for us.”

Not this time, and it was a bitter pill for a Kanisa team that lost the Redemption Bowl in 2016 to first-year team Woodbridge. But Marshall says his team is not devastated, just determined to improve.

“We didn’t hang our head.  We gave it a very good effort, leading for most of the game.  We recognize we have to do something different next year to not be in this position again, and some serious thought will be put towards what is the best way forward, what needs to change and what needs to be kept.

“Congrats to East.  They fought back all game, the only time they took the lead was on their last TD when they went up 6 points.  They fought back all year, after a terrible start to the season.  We always have a good time playing them, the games are always close, and this year they got the better of us,” Marshall said.

Between last year and this year, both teams have played each other three times, with East holding the edge with two wins. The total point differential after three games is 3 points.

In Sunday’s game, Cecil Lewis scored late — a rumbling stumbling TD after he coralled a long pass from QB John Cavallari, fell to the ground and got up in time to elude the clutching, flailing hands of multiple East defenders. Trailing by one, with the chance to tie the game with a 5-yard convert, Kanisa went for the two-point convert and the win. Cavallari’s pass fell just beyond the diving Lewis in the end zone and East ran out the clock for the victory.

Following the game a jubilant East squad verbalized their goals for next season with the refrain,  “We’re coming for you T-West.” — the 2017 league champion.

Baugh added: “This was our first time in the Redemption Bowl. I plan to make it our last! It’s fun, but not for me! So this was why we had to make it so memorable. LOL. Keep in mind that the Titans will be making a strong run for the trophy next season.

“This was another great year for football.  We have nowhere to go but up from here.  Special shout to my teammates, the refs, and big congrats to T-West. See you in the finals next season.”

The rest of the league of 12 teams, maybe 14, are saying,  “What about us?”

Toronto West 22, Mt. Olive 19

 

 Super Sunday victory puts the Saints back on top; East wins Redemption Bowl

 

T-West is once again atop the church flag football world – thanks to a business-like beating of the defending champions from Mt. Olive at Northview, Aug. 27.

The Toronto West Saints beat Mt. Olive Triumph 22-19 in Super Sunday II, ending the Triumph’s two-year reign. The win was the Saints’ third title in six years, and put them back on top of the mound for the first time since losing their perfect season to Apple Creek on the last play of the championship game in 2014.

 

Mt. Olive Triumph are vowing to be back next year. But if you want evidence of how tough it is to win, look at T-West. They dominated the league in 2012 and 2013, winning back-to-back championships. Then, in 2014, they won every game and were poised for the Three-peat when Apple Creek staged a furious comeback and won on the last play of the game to take the title. T-West has not been close to the title since then, failing to reach the finals for two straight years.

 

“There are so many ways to lose, and only one way to win,” said captain Sheldon James. “You need an entire team. Everybody has to buy in. Our guys and girls stuck together.”

 

In the consolation final, Toronto East beat Kanisa in an exciting game between evenly-matched teams, 23-22. See story below for details.

 

This was the first season T-West played without a girl QB (Sasha Rampersad) and it took them several games to find the rhythm with recruit Jay Steinberg, a veteran lefty who’d retired from competitive football.

 

Steinberg was still adjusting to co-ed football right to the end, but had enough moxie and veteran presence to lead the Saints to a 7-1 regular season record (the only loss was to Agape Avengers) and the win on Sunday.

 

Steinberg ran for two scores and tossed one to Sheldon James. Sheldon got a second score on a pitch from brother, Darnell, plus a convert. But it was Darnell who grabbed the Precision Laboratories MVP trophy with back-breaking catches deep in the Mt. Olive secondary.

 

For Mt. Olive, QB Karl Brown, Craig Farrier and Nick Deslandes  scored touchdowns, with converts to Germaine Clark and Farrier. But the dream of a three-peat petered out in the second half as they couldn’t contain the heavy dose of the James Brothers.

 

Mt. Olive’s offensive game plan was what the league has come to expect: methodical, probing drives with safe plays and no turnovers. By half-time they had a 12-10 lead, but would not score again until near the end when they trailed by 10 points.

Their challenge was how to stop the Saints’ offence. You must provide special coverage against their trio of elite girls (Sherri Pierce who won the league top female player in 2017), Alysha Emerson, and Keisha Alexander (top female offensive player of 2016). Fail to cover speedy newcomer Dan George and it’s over quick. And, the third option is the James Brothers, perennial all-stars who are among the league’s elite players.

“Defensively, we wanted to shrink the window for T-West players. Force them to make plays with pressure. Take away their girl players, and force T-West into going to their 3rd or 4th options,” Brown explained afterwards.

Mt. Olive chose to cover Pierce with a guy; Brown marked George all across the field and left it to Farrier and Ezekiel Marksman to handle the James Boys. It was Olive’s best option but it led to a slow death as Sheldon and Darnell, in particular, gashed the Triumph’s secondary for crucial third-down gains.

And when Steinberg went to Alexander, her yards-after-catch punctured the Olive defence.

With the game still hanging in the balance, a second-half sequence on offence showed how much Mt. Olive missed their female outstanding player of 2016 Petagaye McIntosh, off on mat leave.  Brown tagged the series as the game’s turning point and explains:

“Second half, T-West gets the ball and marches down the field to take a 5 point lead. We come right back and march down to their 30 yard line and hit a snag. The rule change on the girl toss comes into play. We end up getting flagged on back-to-back plays pushing us backwards 10 yards. Not being able to recover from that drive turned the game.”

McIntosh is a master at running that option play. Her absence, plus a rule change that now prevents a girl QB from simply flipping the ball to a guy and have it count as a girl play, tripped up the Triumph. Their mighty two-year run was over.

Consider what Mt. Olive has achieved, a small team with a small roster.

In 2014 Karl Brown was playing for Toronto West as they ran roughshod over the league, only to lose in the championship. Brown returned to Mt. Olive for 2015 and they won the title, upsetting the favourite Agape Avengers.

Not only did they repeat in 2016, but the Triumph did so with a perfect, unbeaten season, going 11-0 for back-to-back titles.

The only motivation for 2017 was the historic three straight titles, a feat basketball’s Pat Riley coined as a “three-peat.” Olive suffered early hangover from last year’s greatness but recovered to run through Mississauga and Woodbridge in the Western playoffs and set up the matchup with nemesis T-West.

Brown was gracious in defeat.

“They capitalized on their chances in the second half, and hung on. They made timely plays when they needed them.  Congrats to the team and Church members. Job well done.”

As strange as it may seem for a team that has been in the championship game four of the six years in the church league, T-West flew under the radar in 2017. They volunteered to move to the Eastern Conference because the west had seven other teams compared to five in the east.

The Saints weren’t blowing out teams, the offence sputtered, and the roster was rarely consistent as key players missed key games. Still, with just one loss to Agape, and wins over Olive, Philly, Hamilton, East and Woodbridge, the potential was obviously there.

Then the playoffs started and it came together.

“It seemed like we could never get our full roster out for a game this year — until the playoffs which is where we were able to showcase our various weapons,” said Darnell James.

“Adding veteran players like Dan George, Jay Steinberg, Leon Perry along with youthful injections of Jauron Robinson and Tyffany Ambrose was what helped our roster become the deepest.”

On any given day the Saints can blind you with speed, shock you with girl power or befuddle you with veteran guile.

“We made plays when we needed them,” said Steinberg. “There was not one or two people, it was a total team effort that got this win.”

Have the Saints peaked, leaving the door open for other teams in the league to step in?

“This is our first year with Jay at QB,” said Darnell. “We will only improve our chemistry moving forward.”

“You always build to get better,” said Steinberg, who was impressed by the talent and organization of the league.

Hail to the champions:

Keisha Alexander, Tyffany Ambrose, Stefan Bruggemann, Alysha Emerson, Dan George, Chris Gordon, LeeAnn Gordon, Cleon Holmes, Avalon James, Darnell James, Royson James, Sheldon James, Jermaine Jarvis, Dennis Langley, Basil Linton, Abi Marshall, David McLennon, Roshaun Nunes, Leon Perry, Sherri Pierce, Leanne Prendergast, Jauron Robinson, Sandy Senior, Jay Steinberg.

Commissioner Frankie Lazarus is to deliver the trophy to the Toronto West Church on Sept. 9.

OYMFL Award Winners

Sherri Pierce, Jayde Rowe named

Top players in OYM Football 2017 

 

7 players honoured with awards at Super Sunday II

MOST OUTSTANDING MALE PLAYER

  Jayde Rowe (Philadelphia Rolling Thunder)

MOST OUTSTANDING FEMALE PLAYER

Sherri Pierce (Toronto West Saints) 

MOST OUTSTANDING MALE OFFENSIVE PLAYER

Niah Wilson (Hamilton Steelhawks) 

MOST OUTSTANDING FEMALE OFFENSIVE PLAYER

Karmealia Turner (Agape Avengers)

MOST OUTSTANDING MALE DEFENSIVE PLAYER

Sheldon James (Toronto West Saints)

MOST OUTSTANDING FEMALE DEFENSIVE PLAYER

Sushanna Harris (Toronto East Titans)

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

 Jabari Lindsay (Meadwovale)