August 4, 2016 · 0 Comments
A successful weekend on the gridiron for the Orangeville Outlaws resulted in two teams advancing to the Ontario Minor Football League Championships this weekend in Toronto.
Both the Bantam and Junior Varsity teams won their semi-final games on Sunday, July 31, to earn the right to advance to the final games.
Bantam Division
The Outlaws Bantams won their semi-final game over rival TNT Express with a morning game at Westside Secondary school.
“It was a really close game,” said Orangeville defensive end Adam Milian. “We kind of lost focus at the beginning, then we put it together and got through. Both sides of the ball (offence and defence) worked really well. We had to work our defence very well and no yards could be given. We kind of lost at the beginning and at the end we brought it together. When ‘B’ (Brendon Barrow) got that interception that sealed the game for us.”
The Outlaws got their first touchdown when Brendon Barrow crossed the goal in the first quarter but they were trailing 7-6.
Outlaws QB Nathan Falconi had a huge run through the pack to score and move the Outlaws ahead 12-7.
The Orangeville team moved ahead on a pass from Falconi to Barrow that scored and gave the Outlaws an 11 point lead.
The Express fought back in the second quarter scoring to take back a two point lead.
Going into the second half, the Outlaws again moved ahead on a couple of good runs by Barrow, Aiden Murray, and Titus Lyall-Ashby, that brought the squad down field into good field position.
Another long pass received by Caleb Jackson and a successful convert kick gave the O-ville squad 26 points.
A strong Outlaws defence stopped the Express mid field with good hits by Dylan Pardy, Jacob Hosford,
Derek de Langley, Graden Gradison, and Tyler Simpson.
With the three minute warning sounded and a 26-22 score, both teams tried to get the final goal that could seal the for the Outlaws or turn the game around for the Express.
In a final effort, the Express went to the throwing game but an interception by Barrow pretty much ended the game leaving the Outlaws with the 26-22 win and the right to advance to the OMFL championship.
They will face the Clarington Knights in the final game at Toronto’s Centennial Stadium on Sunday, August 7.
Game time is 11:30 a.m.
Junior Varsity
The Outlaws JV team met up with the Niagara Spears in their semi-final.
The Orangeville team took an early lead on a TD from Aiden Oliver.
O-ville was head by 13 points when Cam Newton had a 40 yard sprint for the Outlaws second TD of the game.
The second quarter had the Outlaws in scoring position starting with a ball carry by Jeriah Valladares followed by a first down carry by Luc St. Germain.
With three yards to the goal, Aiden Oliver went through the middle in hole that was blasted open by his forward linemen.
Niagara got on the scoreboard with a long pass and successful convert midway in the quarter.
With ten seconds left in the half, St. Germain threw a long pass to Valladares who scored to give the Outlaws a 26-7 lead to start the second half of play.
O-ville defender Spencer Payne snagged a Niagara pass for the interception to give Orangeville the ball a their own 30 yard line.
Lino DeVita had a solid first down run that was followed by another Outlaws TD when Valladares caught a pass and sprinted across the goal.
The Spears managed to close the gap with a TD late in the third quarter to make it a 33-19 game.
Niagara went to the throwing game late in the quarter in an effort to close the gap but had little success.
The game ended at mid field with a 33-19 Orangeville win.
The Outlaws JV team will face the North Bay Bulldogs in the championship final on Saturday, August 6, at Centennial Stadium in Toronto.
Kick-off time is 2:30 p.m.