On November 10, 2022, the stage was set. The Leaside Lancers were due to play the Northern Red Knights in the TDSSAA (Toronto District Secondary School Athletic Association) Junior Boys Football Championship game at Varsity Stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
A look back on how both teams made it to the finals
Both the Lancers and the Red Knights had terrific seasons leading up to the final game. The Red Knights went an undefeated 5-0 throughout the regular season, beating each team including the Lancers. They finished first overall in the standings. The Lancers won all but one of their regular season games losing only to the Red Knights. With both teams finishing in top spots in the standings, they each clinched a spot in the semi-finals. Northern faced off against Richview and Leaside faced off against Etobicoke. Both games took place at Esther Shriner Stadium. Northern went on to beat Richview by a score of 27-0 and Leaside went on to beat Etobicoke, 16-12.
The highly anticipated finals matchup
It was November 10th, 2022 and Leaside was preparing to take on Northern at Varsity Stadium. The game was even being broadcast on YouTube for the first time ever! Lucas Cavalcanti, Cameron Bussey and (myself!) Elias Drakos called the game. The national anthem O’ Canada played, and it was time for kickoff!
In the first quarter, Leaside dominated the game. They scored two touchdowns and a field goal. They lead 17-0 after one. It seemed like Leaside had all the confidence in the world after securing a strong lead such as that one.
However, in the second quarter, the Red Knights came roaring back with two touchdowns of their own to make it a 17-14 contest at the half.
In the third quarter, the two teams went back and forth; however, no one managed to score. It was on to the fourth quarter. With just under nine minutes left in the game, Northern’s Miguel Collado scored a touchdown to give his team their first lead of the game. It was now 21-17. In the late stages of the game, Northern had the ball however during that play Leaside’s Luke McArton intercepted the ball and went into the end zone for the touchdown. Leaside thought they had recaptured the lead however, the referees called pass interference on the play therefore negating the touchdown. Leaside continued to press until the very end however, they ultimately came up just short of victory. Northern went on to win the game and were crowned the Junior Boys Champions of 2022.
The key takeaways
In closing, this game was very close and had plenty of ups and downs. The Leaside Lancers played a phenomenal game and they should be proud of all the hard work they put into this successful season.
Article written by Grade 12 Leaside Student, Elias Drakos