Ottawa (Jamboree): Cite, St. Joe’s & Ashbury dominate…are they the favourites?

Sixteen of Ottawa’s eighteen senior / varsity high school teams competed in the United Way Jamboree on Thursday at St. Joseph’s high school in barrhaven.

The good: Well organized event that gives teams an opportunity to all play at one location, allowing scouts easier access to all the teams.

The bad: Is it a down year in ottawa high school football? Is it because the top kids play junior instead of high school? Is it because some kids play both minor and high school at the same time? Is it just part of the cycle? Is it because there was no junior league for a couple years? Has the tiering system breeded mediocrity?

The ugly: The ottawa tiering system needs to be reviewed. St. Joe’s should be a tier 1 program as well as a couple others. Is it better to have a great shot at winning tier 2 or to have the kids play against the best?

TIER 1

Ashbury (3-0) 37 vs. South Carleton (0-3) 0

Is Ashbury the top team in Ottawa? The colts were led by QB Duncan Lurie, DB Kyle O’Hara (1 INT), DB/RB Robbie Ashe (2 TD, 1 INT), LB/OL John Biewald, OL Alex Macdonald, REC/DB Tim Lo (TD) and K Andres Dias (13 pts, 3 FG). South Carleton had strong performances put in by REC Ryan Chwedchuk, DL/OL Dave Jackson, REC Josh Kennan, DB/K Bobby Godfrey, LB Brad Davies and OL Alex Reklitis.

St. Peter’s 16 (3-0) vs. St. Matthew’s (0-2-1) 3

The defending ottawa champion knights continue to ‘muck’ their way to victories. Top performers for the knights were REC Dennis Gagne and DB/REC Brian Hughes. St. Matt’s had strong performances put in by LB Mike Webster, DB Alex Gauthier, and LB Matt O’Connor.

St. Mark (2-1) 13 vs. St. Patrick’s (0-2-1)

Hard fought game that saw St. Mark outlast the defending tier 2 champions. St. Mark Lions had strong games put in by Chris Fanning OL/DL/K/P, Kyle Wilson LB, Tom Hoy LB, Curtis Brown DB (1 INT), Taylor Moran RB, and Dylan Hines FB. St. Patrick was led by QB/DB Mitchell Baines, DB Riley Baines, LB Keegan Carruthers, DL Robbie MacLeod, DB Mike Miller, and LB Ruthran Udayakumar.

TIER 2

Franco Cite (3-0) 52 vs. Notre Dame (0-3)

Both programs are in their second year of existence. That’s where the similarity ends. Cite had strong performances by OL Mathieu Bedard, OL Alexandre Boulay, LB Cody Ullett (8 tackles) and LB Joel Mulumba Cimankinda (7 tackles), RB Alvan Julien (2 TDs, 140 yds), and DB Damascene Maniraguha (6 tackles). Notre Dame was led by receiver Jose Batres, LB Dylon Phillips and RB Carl Bernarde.

John McCrae (2-1) 14 vs. Merivale (0-3) 9

John McCrae outlasted the pass happy merivale mauraders led by LB/FB James Mau, OL/LB Erick Mork, and OL/DL Pat Morrisey. Merivale had strong games put in by LB Ryan Tohidi, QB/DB Craig Castle, REC Hamze Mansour and OL/DL Joey Pisani.

Holy Trinity (2-1) 14 vs. Sacred Heart 0

Holy Trinity outlasted Sacred Heart. Turning in solid performances for Holy Trinity were RB Matt Gagnon (1 rec TD, 1 rush TD, 1 recovered onside kick), LB Mitch Graham, QB Sean Mellor, RB Jeff Addai (150+ yds rushing), DL Corbin Maxwell, and DB Yoni Soleyn (2 INTS). On the other side of the ball Sacred Heart has strong games from LB Shane Brownlee who was all over the field, RB Alex Demidenko and LB Neil Dugan.

St Joseph’s (3-0) 44 vs. Bell (0-2) 0

The jaguars continue to roll in tier 2 action. Players to watch yesterday were QB Jordan Maxwell, DB Cody Valle, LB Spencer Brown (maybe the best player of the day), OL/DL Sam Dean (1 FR), and receiver Corey Wright.

Glebe (1-2) 16 vs. Laurier (1-2) 15

An exciting down the wire finish saw glebe outlast laurier. Glebe stars were QB Cory Bousada, OL/DL Jose Luis Cushi (FR TD), OL Nathan Lara-thell, OL/DL Emmett McEachern. Sir Wil were led by REC Matthew Finlay (TD), LB Alex Hepworth, LB/OL James Wright, and OL/DL Zacharie Harrison.

Photo by: Brian Blight