Fighting Owls' wings clipped

Posted By STEPHEN SWEET

Posted 2 months ago

Same game, same result for the Crestwood Mustangs and Collingwood Fighting Owls.

Crestwood running back Connor Blanchfield rushed for a 51-yard touchdown into the wind with 5:12 remaining as the Mustangs advanced to the National Capital Bowl with a 23-17 victory over Collingwood at Esther Shiner Stadium on Friday.

With the Fighting Owls holding their first lead of the game, Blanchfield broke through a couple of tackles at the Collingwood 50 and raced down the left sideline to score. Quarterback Dylan Kemp's bootleg increased the lead to six points.

Things weren't looking good for the Mustangs when running back Stephen Hons fumbled on a third-and-two, after picking up what would have been a first down.

But Hons and his teammates looked sharp on the following drive, when his gains moved Crestwood across midfield to set up Blanchfield's run.

"Well we knew we had to come back in that fourth quarter," Hons said. "So everybody just dug deep, everybody got their blocks and everyone ran hard."

Collingwood had a couple of late possessions, but was unable to move the ball. With the Mustangs methodically running down the clock in the final three minutes, the Owls found few chances to try and take back the lead.

"Our fourth quarter was more coaching than anything," Kemp said.

"Players did their jobs, but it was the calls from the sideline (that got us through)."

On third down with less than 30 seconds remaining, Cook scrambled to find a receiver but could not, eventually being pulled down at his own 26 to seal the fourth-quarter, come-from-behind win for Crestwood.

The comeback effort spoiled what could have been Collingwood's first trip to the National Capital Bowl.

After dropping a 22-15 decision to Crestwood in 2008, the Fighting Owls gave themselves a chance when Josh Reason's TD run halfway through the third quarter put them ahead 17-15.

But too many mistakes proved to be costly for the GBSSA champions.

"I think we kind of shot ourselves in the foot in a number of different fashions," Collingwood head coach Wayne McMullin said. "We probably dropped six balls, one of which could have been a touchdown. We also missed a number of tackles where we didn't quite finish the plays."

Errors of that nature made it too hard to catch up to the Mustangs.

"Give full credit to Crestwood," McMullin said.

"They executed that drive into the wind in the fourth quarter that provided the winning touchdown and that's fabulous work by them."

It was the wind, gusting from west to east, that forced the coaches to adjust.

Crestwood took a safety in the second quarter rather than punt into a heavy wind.

They'd also earned their first point of the game when the opening kickoff flew into the end zone.

The winds made it necessary for offences to run the ball more often, and both sides scored their second half touchdowns on the ground.

Crestwood didn't fall behind in the first half, building a 15-8 lead on long touchdown runs by Hons and Blanchfield.

Collingwood quarterback Jamie Cook, who was rolling out of the pocket for most of the afternoon, found Josh McDuffie in the end zone for a 10-yard TD strike for their lone-first half major.

Cook ran in the two-point conversion to briefly tie the game at eight.

The Fighting Owls, having taken their second-straight GBSSA title after not winning one for 76 years, give McMullin some hope for the future.

"We've got an exciting team coming back next season," McMullin said. "We don't lose very many players off of our defence and we only lose four on offence.

"We did see some exciting athleticism from our junior squad this year, so it looks like the house is in pretty good shape for 2010."

With the victory, Crestwood will face either the St. Peter Knights of Orleans or Kingston's Holy Cross Crusaders in the National Capital Bowl next Wednesday, with the opponent being decided Saturday.

"I think we've got a good chance," Hons said. "I think we've got a better group this year. We've got a good group of players."

The Bowl game will be one of five taking place on the Rogers Centre turf, with Crestwood's game scheduled to start at 2:45 p. m.

Stephen Sweet is the Examiner's intern from Centennial College