CFC25 Small School Rankings (WEEK 7): Scramble mode after playoff upsets in AB, SK, and MB

Can you feel the spirit in the air? No, not Christmas … It’s the feeling of playoff upsets and the sweet sound of brackets busting across the nation.

We begin the journey in Alberta where hardware was on the line once again, and unfortunately George McDougall missed out on another chance in the Tier II Zone Championship in a devastating 39-0 loss to Holy Trinity Academy. The Knights are no strangers to the CFC25 Rankings after hanging onto a top five spot for the majority of the 2019 season, and they’re proving once again to be one of the best in Alberta when it matters most. They now prepare to take on Medicine Hat in the Alberta Tier II quarterfinals after the Hawks clawed their way back to a 27-26 victory over Cardston in the other Tier II Zone Championship.

The final piece of the Tier II puzzle will be decided later tonight as Leduc look to piggy back off a dominant performance in the Miles Division Championship when they take on Bellerose for a chance to the play the winner of top ranked St. Joseph’s versus Austin O’Brien. Meanwhile in the Tier III side of the bracket, Holy Rosary are on the path to win the North Championship if they can keep their cool, and Cochrane are on course to deliver in the South Championship. If all goes according to plan, we will get a highly anticipated showdown between the Raiders and Cobras at Commonwealth Stadium on November 26th … but do things ever go according to plan this year?

We turn our attention to Saskatchewan where Sheldon Williams nearly pulled off the upset in the RIFL Stewart Division finals, but Greenall held on for dear life to come away with a 25-22 victory in overtime. With the win they can now begin dreaming of provincial glory, but they will need to bring their best when they meet Weyburn in the SHSAA 5-A Provincial finals scheduled for this Friday night at Leibel Field. Weyburn enter the contest unbeaten on the year with an eight game winning streak, and should be feeling extra confident after downing Bishop J. Mahoney from Saskatoon in the semifinals. In other words, we could have a new top five next week if Weyburn complete the perfect season.

The real shake up in the rankings this week came at the bottom with plenty of upsets, including in Manitoba where Murdoch MacKay found a way to hand Sisler their first loss of the season by a score of 30-14, and also secured their spot in the WHSFL DII finals against Springfield. The Sabres kept their unbeaten streak alive with a high scoring 35-26 victory over Elmwood, but will have no reason to take Murdoch lightly after earning a tight 28-20 win in their only regular season matchup. In the Westman Division, there were no surprises to be had as Vincent Massey out of Brandon continued to run rampant over the league with a 42-17 win over Crocus Plains in the semis. They are now studying film on Steinbach one last time as they prep for the Westman Championship game, and have every reason to feel confident after defeating their opponents 36-14 just two weeks ago.

It’s time to catch up with Quebec where the playoff bracket is finally underway, but no real surprises to report of yet. That last word is key because we’ve now got Saint-Georges joining the top 25 after defeating College Laval 24-7 in the final week of the season, and then followed up with a revenge tour in Estacades where they delivered on a 24-21 victory to snag a spot in the final four. They’ll be joined by College Laval, College de Levis and College Bourget … Good luck guessing who’s going to prevail, but we suggest you grab some popcorn.

Next we’ve got championship news out of Nova Scotia as Park View plan to change their name to Perfect View after putting together a 9-0 campaign that ended with a 41-7 victory over Lockview in the NSSAF DII Championship. The Panthers program was only started five years ago, and in their fourth season they left zero doubts about who the best in the province was outscoring their opponents 439-26. Could we be witnessing the birth of another Atlantic football dynasty? Only time will tell for this exciting young program out of Bridgewater.

We round our trip out with some news out of Ontario where there sadly isn’t as many divisions in action, but they’ve made up for it with plenty of drama. We’ve had our eye on Holy Trinity out of Simcoe all year long, and they finally busted through the ranking wall with a massive 35-7 win over Delhi to take home the A.A.B.H.N. Non-Varsity title. The Titans suffered a one point loss to the Raiders to kick off the season, and they had to wait a little while to enact their revenge, but they finally got the deed done on enemy soil. The unpredictable COSSA region also provided an upset as Thomas A. Stewart defeated Crestwood in the semifinals, and will now have one last crack to take down top five ranked Holy Cross in the Kawartha Finals.

Lastly B.C. is finally heading into playoff mode next week as Langley, Vernon and Robert Bateman get ready to find out who really is the best in the province as cross division rivals begin to collide. Then get ready for another championship showdown in New Brunswick next week as L’Odyssee take on Ecole Sainte-Anne in the AA Provincial finals.

PAST RESULTS: WEEK 1 WEEK 2Β WEEK 3WEEK 4WEEK 5WEEK 6

# Last Week School/Team Mascot City Prov. Conf. Rec. Non-Conf. Rec Week 11
1 1 St. Joseph’s Celtics Grande Prairie AB 6-0 3-0 W 58-7 v.s Sexsmith
2 2 Greenall Griffins Balgonie SK 7-0 0-0 OTW 25-22 v.s Sheldon Williams
3 3 Holy Rosary Raiders Lloydminster AB 7-0 2-0 W 52-0 v.s Lloydminster
4 4 Holy Cross Hurricanes Peterborough ON 6-0 0-0 W 47-15 v.s St. Peter
5 5 Langley Saints Langley BC 7-0 0-0 W 15-0 v.s Holy Cross
6 6 College Laval Maraudeurs Laval QC 8-1 0-0 W 31-7 v.s Nicolas-Gatineau
7 7 College de Levis Commandeurs Levis QC 8-1 0-0 W 36-21 v.s Deux-Montagnes
8 8 Medicine Hat Hawks Medicine Hat AB 7-2 3-0 W 27-26 v.s Cardston
9 9 L’Odyssee Olympiens Moncton NB 7-0 0-0 W 12-0 v.s Mathieu-Martin
10 10 Vincent Massey Vikings Brandon MB 5-0 0-0 W 42-17 v.s Crocus Plains
11 20 Weyburn Eagles Weyburn SK 7-0 0-0 W 24-13 v.s Bishop J. Mohoney
12 12 Cochrane Cobras Cochrane AB 7-1 0-0 BYE
13 14 Vernon Panthers Vernon BC 3-1 0-2 W 24-3 v.s Rutland
14 16 Springfield Sabres Winnipeg MB 5-0 0-0 W 35-26 v.s Elmwood
15 17 Leduc Tigers Leduc AB 6-0 2-0 W 36-0 v.s Paul Kane
16 21 Park View Panthers Bridgewater NS 9-0 FINAL 0-0 W 41-7 v.s Lockview (CHAMPIONS)
17 18 Collège Bourget Voltigeurs Rigaud QC 7-2 0-0 W 42-16 v.s Saint-Joseph
18 22 Robert Bateman Timberwolves Abbotsford BC 6-1 1-1 W 46-12 v.s Carson Graham
19 UR Holy Trinity Titans Simcoe ON 5-1 0-0 W 35-7 v.s Delhi
20 UR Holy Trinity Academy Knights Okotoks AB 6-3–1 0-0 W 39-0 v.s George McDougall
21 23 St. Mary’s Mustangs Owen Sound ON 4-0 0-1 W 8-7 v.s Grey Highlands
22 UR Murdoch MacKay Winnipeg MB 4-2 0-0 W 30-14 v.s Sisler
23 UR Saint-Georges Dragons Saint-Georges QC 6-3 0-0 W 24-21 v.s Estacades
24 25 Sheldon Williams Spartans Regina SK 5-3 FINAL 0-0 L 25-22 v.s Greenall
25 11 Bishop J. Mahoney Saints Saskatoon SK 6-2 FINAL 0-0 L 24-13 v.s Weyburn

Who’s getting ranked?

For the first time, Canadafootballchat.com (CFC) is pleased to bring you the national ‘Small School’ high school football rankings known as the CFC25.

The CFC25 rankings considers all conference and non-conference games (in Canada and the United States) while scrimmages are not evaluated (there is no such thing as an exhibition game – those are classified as non-conference games) and forfeit* wins are not considered towards overall record.

How is theΒ CFC25Β evaluated?

Leagues/teams included in rankings:

  • British Columbia: AA Varsity
  • Alberta: Tier 2-4
  • Saskatchewan: 12-man 3A rural, SaskatoonΒ  – 5A, Regina – Stewart
  • Manitoba: Division 2 and 3 Varsity
  • Ontario: NSSAA – Haldimand-Norfolk, BAA – Bluewater, COSSAA – Kawartha, COSSAA – Bay of Quinte, LRFL – Lanark-Renfrew, LGSSAA – Brockville, EOFC – Cornwall
  • Quebec: Juvenile Division 1b
  • New Brunswick: 12-man D2E and D2W
  • Nova Scotia: Div. 2 Nova – Sydney Academy, Horton, Millwood, Avon View, Cole Harbour. Scotia – Sackville, Park View, J.L. Ilsley, Central Kings, West Kings (***NS league was re-aligned Oct. 1, 2019. These are now the Division 2 teams and will take into affect for week 7 ranking)

The CFC25 is a RELATIVE RANKING that considers small school leagues from all eight high school playing provinces (minimum one team represented from each province) and the strength of the league. Additional criteria used to determine the relative ranking are the ability to accomplish winning a championship, the impact players and performers on that team (ie. CFC100s, CDN All-Stars etc.), and a team’s coaching and recent tradition.

The CFC Scouting Bureau consists of CFC Reporters, CFC Scouts, and selected local reporters and scouts who submit local ranking results on a weekly basis. The CFC25 is released every Tuesday (other than on Holidays) at 12 noon.

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