Can you smell it in the air? It’s finally November, which means it’s put up or shut up time for programs across Canada as they make their push towards provincial supremacy.
We begin in Alberta where we saw the end of an era in the Rocky View finals. Cochrane have held onto the throne for eight straight years, and have only suffered one divisional loss in that timeframe, but all good things must come to an end as George McDougall finally reclaimed the crown with a 38-20 victory. It’s been a long time coming for the Mustangs who’ve found themselves on the losing end of this rivalry for far too long, and now they’ll be looking to complete their magical journey with a run in the Tier II provincial playdowns beginning with another tough matchup against top ranked Holy Trinity Academy. On the other side, Cochrane won’t need to hand in their equipment yet with a matchup against Foothills in their first trip to the Tier I provincial playdowns after competing at the Tier III level in previous years. Elsewhere, it came as no surprise that Holy Rosary once again secured their spot in the Wheatland League finals with a dominant 42-21 victory over their city rivals from Lloydminster, and St. Joseph had no issues squeezing by Grand Prairie to earn the right to defend their title in the Mighty Peace Conference finals. Both squads have bigger goals in mind with Holy Rosary looking to repeat as Tier III provincial champions, while St. Joseph is hoping they can take home another Tier II provincial banner.
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We now head to Saskatchewan where only the best are left competing for right to call themselves the champions of 5A football. We were expecting a close contest between Weyburn and Yorkton in the Rural League finals, but the Eagles had a different set of plans as they ran away with a 52-14 victory over the Raider Gridders. This is the second straight Rural title for Weyburn, and they’re on a similar path as last season with a big semifinals matchup against Greenall, who danced their way past Sheldon-Williams to take home the RIFL Stewart Division title. The winner of their semifinal showdown will take on the champions from Saskatoon in the 5A Provincial finals, which will be decided this week with Bishop J. Mahoney ready to take on Aden Bowman.
There’s only four teams left in the race for the Manitoba DII provincial championship, and as we’ve seen across Canada, regular season records mean nothing when you arrive at the big dance. With that said, it’s going to take a collective effort to bring down our top two ranked programs with Vincent Massey coming off a 54-7 victory over Portage, and Sturgeon Heights eliminating Kelvin by a score of 28-7. Massey are now preparing for a rematch against Springfield, who they defeated 42-15 earlier in the year, while Sturgeon Heights will be looking for a repeat performance against Miles Mac, who they held scoreless in a 24-0 shutout three weeks ago. It seems like a matchup between Vincent Massey and Sturgeon Heights is written in the stars, but don’t count out an upset until the final whistles blow.
We only had one ranked program take to the field in round one of the Quebec Juvenile DII playoffs, and newcomers Dalbe-Viau wouldn’t be denied advancing to the quarterfinals with a convincing 52-21 win over Pointe-Levy. Now we get to the fun part of the journey with the top four seeded teams stepping into the ring with College Laval set to faceoff against Roger-Comtois, College Bourget ready to take on Jacques-Rousseau, Saint-Joseph prepping for a matchup against Saint-Georges, and Dalbe-Viau seeking revenge against Estacades in a battle of ranked programs. Now we are just waiting to see which four will survive the weekend.
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We’ve only got one week left to decide the playoff brackets in BC, and the AA Costal Division continues to be a slugfest between the top six teams. Robert Bateman continue to be the benchmark after a 35-0 victory over Windsor to keep their undefeated record intact, but the water is much murkier from second through sixth place. Langley are beginning to separate themselves from the pack with a key 24-21 victory over John Barsby, who now find themselves in a deadlock in the standings tied with Ballenas, Holy Cross and Argyle at 3-3. John Barsby are still the only program to give Robert Bateman a run for their money this season, but they’ll need to prove they belong in the conversation with the big boys come playoff time. In the AA Interior Division, it looks like nobody will be able to touch Vernon this season, who had no troubles getting past South Kamloops by a score of 31-14 this week. Vernon’s only loss this season came in exhibition action against Langley, and we wouldn’t be shocked if they become one of the main contenders when the dust settles in the AA Varsity provincial playoffs.
Lastly we check-in with Ontario where both of our ranked programs from last week suffered losses. Thomas A. Stewart have proven they belong in the top 25 after handing Crestwood their first loss of the season by a score of 28-3, and St. Mary’s couldn’t run the table suffering their first loss to Owen Sound. Thomas A. Stewart are now the top seed with a flawless record going into the COSSA playoffs, meanwhile St. Mary’s will look to hold onto the top spot in the Bluewater Athletic Association in their regular season finale against Grey Highlands.
PAST RANKINGS: WEEK 1 – WEEK 2 – WEEK 3 – WEEK 4 – WEEK 5 – WEEK 6
# | Last Week | School/Team Mascot | City | Prov. | Conf. Rec. | Non-Conf. Rec | Results |
1 | 1 | Holy Trinity Academy Knights | Okotoks | AB | 0-0 | 7-1 | BYE |
2 | 2 | Robert Bateman Timberwolves | Abbotsford | BC | 6-0 | 3-0 | W 35-0 vs. Windsor |
3 | 3 | Vincent Massey Vikings | Brandon | MB | 8-0 | 0-0 | W 54-7 vs. Portage |
4 | 5 | Sturgeon Heights Huskies | Winnipeg | MB | 8-0 | 0-0 | W 28-7 vs. Kelvin |
5 | 6 | College Laval Maraudeurs | Laval | QC | 7-1 | 0-0 | BYE |
6 | 7 | Greenall Griffins | Balgonie | SK | 7-0 | 0-1 | W 27-8 vs. Sheldon Williams |
7 | 8 | Collège Bourget Voltigeurs | Rigaud | QC | 7-1 | 0-0 | BYE |
8 | 9 | Holy Rosary Raiders | Lloydminster | AB | 6-0 | 2-1 | W 42-21 vs. Lloydminster |
9 | 12 | Weyburn Eagles | Weyburn | SK | 7-1 | 0-0 | W 52-14 vs. Yorkton |
10 | 18 | George McDougall Mustangs | Airdrie | AB | 6-2 | 2-0 | W 38-20 vs. Cochrane |
11 | 11 | Séminaire Saint-Joseph Vert et Or | Trois-Rivieres | QC | 7-1 | 0-0 | BYE |
12 | 13 | Dalbé-Viau Aigles D’Or | Lachine | QC | 7-2 | 0-0 | W 52-21 vs. Pointe-Levy |
13 | 14 | St. Joseph Celtics | Grande Prairie | AB | 4-0 | 3-2 | W 50-14 vs. Grand Prairie |
14 | 16 | Bishop J. Mahoney Saints | Saskatoon | SK | 6-0 | 1-0 | W 45-14 vs. Marion Graham |
15 | 4 | Cochrane Cobras | Cochrane | AB | 7-1 | 0-0 | L 38-20 vs. George McDougall |
16 | 22 | Langley Thunderbirds | Langley | BC | 5-1 | 2-0 | W 24-12 vs. John Barsby |
17 | 10 | Yorkton Raider Gridders | Yorkton | SK | 6-2 | 0-0 | L 52-14 vs. Weyburn |
18 | UR | Thomas A. Stewart Griffins | Peterborough | ON | 5-0 | 0-0 | W 28-3 vs. Crestwood |
19 | 19 | Académie les Estacades Aigles | Trois-Rivières | QC | 6-2 | 0-0 | BYE |
20 | 17 | Central Cyclones | Moose Jaw | SK | 5-2 | 0-0 | FINISHED |
21 | 24 | Vernon Panthers | Vernon | BC | 2-0 | 3-1 | W 31-14 vs. South Kamloops |
22 | 25 | Mathieu-Martin Matadors | Dieppe | NB | 7-1 | 0-0 | W 30-0 vs. St. Malachy’s |
23 | 21 | John Barsby Bulldogs | Nanaimo | BC | 3-3 | 0-2 | L 24-12 vs. Langley |
24 | UR | Springfield Sabres | Winnipeg | MB | 6-2 | 0-0 | W 41-19 vs. John Taylor |
25 | 15 | Crestwood Mustangs | Peterborough | ON | 4-1 | 0-0 | L 28-3 vs. Thomas A. Stewart |
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