Fighting Owls do it again

Posted By IAN SHANTZ

Posted 2 months ago

The Fighting Owls are the best. Again.

After erasing a 76-year championship drought last season, Collingwood Collegiate Institute's senior football team wasted little time in getting back to the top.

The Fighting Owls used an explosive offence to beat a gritty Barrie North Vikings defence on a bright November Saturday afternoon, claiming another Georgian Bay crown with a 29-2 win.

Back-to-back.

The perfect end to an unbeaten season.

And this time, they did it at home.

"We made history," said graduating player Josh McDuffie, who kicked the ball with efficiency all afternoon.

He probably could have launched one to The Blue Mountains if his coaches had requested it.

"Perfect, that's what we wanted to be," added graduating running back Josh Reason, who scored all four TDs for Collingwood and was named his team's most valuable player. "We came into the season knowing we had a chance to win another championship. Now, we did."

The fourth-seeded Vikings made life hectic on the top-ranked Fighting Owls out of the gate and grabbed an early lead courtesy of quarterback Spencer Dickman's rouge.

But once Collingwood got going, there was no slowing the league's top-rated offence.

McDuffie caught a 33-yard bomb from quarterback Jamie Cook to set up Reason's first major on the day and give the hosts a 7-1 lead at the half.

Almost methodically from that point on, Collingwood broke Barrie North's air-tight defence -- the team allowed just two touchdowns all season -- en route to claiming high school football's most sought-after prize.

After Dickman notched his second rouge -- Canadian football's one-point play -- Reason punched into the house to make it 13-2 with less than 10 minutes in the final quarter. Reason added two points on the ensuing play and then rumbled in for majors on two short runs to blow the game apart in the final five minutes.

Fans cheered. Fists pumped. Coaches got soaked with Gatorade.

It was Collingwood's day.

"This is my fifth year, and to go out on top, there's nothing better," Reason said. "This is my last game at CCI field. It's my last hurrah. I'm glad it went this way."

While Reason helped ignite the celebration on championship day, the running back threw the credit towards his teammates, coaches and the school's football alumni, who raise money for the team annually.

"It takes a lot to put this together," Reason said. "Our alumni gives us tons of money. They raise, raise, raise ... now, we're going to give it back. It feels great. Its'a two-way street."

A large contingent of Collingwood victory-lappers are set to graduate, so the season became extra special.

"I'm loving this," said McDuffie, who nailed a pair of converts. "I want to keep this going."

They'll have that opportunity when they take on the Peterborough-based Crestwood Mustangs in a National Capital Bowl semifinal game at Esther Shriner Stadium on Friday at noon. It's a re-match of last year's semifinal, which Crestwood won.

The championship loss closes the book on what will be viewed as a successful season for the Vikings, who managed a 4-2 regular-season record and kept opponents in check with authority en route to one of the most memorable defensively-played seasons in the school's history.

"We got here and we're happy about that," said Dickman, who is set to graduate. "We gave it our best and just came up short. I think we impressed a lot of people and came back when people didn't think we could."

ishantz@thebarrieexaminer.com