By Sam Laskaris
The Chaminade Gryphons are going bowling once again.
The Gryphons captured the Toronto high school senior boys’ football crown on Tuesday with a 17-14 victory over the Michael Power Trojans.
The contest had been dubbed as Football Toronto’s Game of the Week.
Besides winning the title in their seven-team league, the Gryphons’ victory meant they will also participate in one of the nine season-ending provincial OFSAA Bowl games next week.
Chaminade will square off against Kitchener’s Resurrection Catholic Secondary School Phoenix in the Metro Bowl game, scheduled for Monday Nov. 28 at 5 p.m.
All of the OFSAA Bowl matches, which continue until Nov. 30, will be staged at the University of Guelph’s Alumni Stadium.
“It was a real close one,” Chaminade head coach Robin Legault said of Tuesday’s final versus the Trojans. “It was only 3-0 for us halfway through the third quarter.”
Fillipo Marcello had opened the scoring for the Gryphons by successfully booting a field goal.
Chaminade extended its lead to 10-0 when the Trojans fumbled a punt return and Gryphons’ star running back Makaya Williams scooped up the ball and ran about 10 yards into the Michael Power end zone.
Marcello was good on his point after attempt.
The Trojans, however, came roaring back scoring their first major of the contest on the ensuing kickoff.
Then, with about a half dozen minutes remaining in the contest, Williams scored his second TD of the game, via a run of about 10 yards.
When Marcello booted the extra point, the Gryphons found themselves leading 17-7.
The Trojans managed to cut the deficit on the final play of the game when they scored their second TD.
Chaminade had also downed Michael Power 20-1 in its closest game of the regular season.
“They definitely came out to play,” Legault said of the Trojans’ efforts in Tuesday’s final.
In the days following the Gryphons’ championship win Legault was trying to find out as much information he could about Chaminade’s Bowl opponent Resurrection.
“I don’t know too much about them,” he said. “But they come from a good league.”
The Phoenix advanced to its Bowl game by being the finalist in the Central Western Ontario Secondary School Association (CWOSSA).
Cambridge’s Jacob Hespeler Hawks downed Resurrection 55-35 in Tuesday’s CWOSSA final.
“Our confidence is high coming in as we’re coming in off a win,” Legault said of their upcoming Metro Bowl. “And they’re coming in after a loss.”
The Gryphons also took part in a 2021 OFSAA Bowl game. Chaminade was downed 17-7 by Westmount from Hamilton in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl.
The Gryphons, however, have two Bowl victories thus far, winning the 2019 Metro Bowl and the 2014 Independent Bowl.
