Toronto Thunder 2011 OVFL varsity champions

The Toronto Thunder football club’s varsity team has been a very dominant force in this year’s Ontario Varsity Football League season. After disposing of the Metro Toronto Wildcats and the Etobicoke Eagles, the Thunder finished at 6-2 before earning themselves a spot in the 2011 OVFL finals game at the Rogers Centre on Saturday August 20th. The Thunder who really won 7 games this season, had to give up one win due to a technicality.

The only real loss that they took this season was to the Ottawa Myers Riders team, who they came back to beat in the Wettges Conference championship. Led by OVFL rushing leader Jayde Rowe and three other conference all-stars, including wide receiver Abe Shah, defensive lineman Ramone Richards, and linebacker Adam Rajab, the Thunder went into Saturday’s game hoping to get past an almost equally talented Hamilton Ironmen team.

The Ironmen seemed to be a good match up with four of their own conference all stars including running back David Hazell, guard Steve Mruranumwe, linebacker Joshua Lolli, and linebacker Joseph Richardson. Hamilton and a good chunk of their fans took the trip to Toronto to face off against a slightly favored Thunder team, who clearly had a few more supporters in the stands being that they were closer to home.

The game started off with Hamilton receiving the ball where they failed to get anything going. As Hamilton decided to punt the ball after the 3rd down, Toronto Thunder running back Chivon Gallagher proved that he would also be a factor in this game with a few plays that resulted in a first down and a field goal attempt at Hamilton’s 26 yard line, which was unfortunately missed.

Toronto’s secondary seemed to put a lot of pressure on Hamilton’s quarterback Alex Hill, as they forced him to utilize the strong running attack from running back Hazzell, and full back Reddick, as well as his own scrambling. However, Hill got pressured into throwing an interception leading the Thunder to open up the scoring close to the end of the first quarter.

It was not until the second quarter where Hamilton would get on the board after a few good throws by Hill, and a costly Toronto penalty for a late hit on the quarterback would lead to a Michael Hayes touchdown. However the third quarter proved to be vital, as Toronto relied more heavily on their star player Rowe to run the ball along with the help of Williams. Rowe who was later named MVP of the game, proved himself yet again by running the ball in from the Hamilton 15 yard line for a touchdown, giving the Toronto Thunder a 7 point lead at 10:39 in the 3rd quarter.

Hamilton fought hard in the 3rd quarter as their full back Barkowich allowed them to tie the game by easily exploiting Toronto’s defensive line with a few short runs, ultimately leading to a touchdown from the Toronto 1 yard line.

This game seemed like Toronto’s to lose as they made some very costly errors in the 4th quarter where the ball was turned over on downs, in turn allowing Hamilton to pursue a drive that led to a failed field goal attempt at Toronto’s 37 yard line with time winding down.

With 4 seconds left, the Thunder returned the ball for a touchdown, which was later called back for holding, sending the game into over time. In overtime, wide receiver Tristan Colair put the Thunder up for good by catching a pass that was thrown from 16 yards out. The Thunder then stifled Hamilton’s running game, which forced Hill to throw a game ending interception that gave the Toronto Thunder an Ontario Varsity Football League title.

The Toronto Thunder’s defence looked shaky at times by taking careless penalties that almost cost them the game. However, they did not let Hill play his game, as he was not able to get the ball as efficiently to his receivers as he has been use to all season. In the end, both teams put on a great performance in a very close and hard fought game.