#CFCHSFB PREVIEW: (ONT-PEEL): Brampton teams head to Rogers Centre

 

Two of the top teams in the ROPSSAA North will play their season finale in the home of the Toronto Argonauts and Blue Jays know as the Rogers Centre.  The event will have both schools’ junior and senior teams play downtown followed by an evening game between the Argos and visiting BC Lions.

This game will feature the 4-0 Ravens and 3-1 Cardinals.  Coming into this week, the Ravens occupy the top spot in the ROPSSAA North.  However, the Cardinals and Panthers both possess 3-1 records heading into the final week.  With a Cardinals win over the Ravens, and a Panthers’ win over Cardinal Ambrozic River Hawks, three teams could potentially finish the regular season in a three-way tie for first place.

St. Roch comes into their season finale undefeated with still much to play for.  In the previous week, the Ravens defeated the David Suzuki Grizzles with a strong effort on both sides of the football.  Now the Ravens will be focusing on securing top spot in the ROPSSAA North and earning a first-round playoff bye.  In order to do so, the Ravens’ coaching staff believes stopping talented Cardinals’ running back Jevante Stanley will be essential for St Roch.  “Aquinas has a CFC top 100 in Stanley.  In the past, we have done well against him.  However, last year he sprung a couple long runs against us.  So we have to play as a unit and try to make it twelve versus one so we can shut their best player down.  I think this will force the Cardinals to try and beat us with their secondary players,” says Ravens’ coach Jonathan Beresford.

For St. Thomas Aquinas, the Cardinals enter Week 6 with one last opportunity to grab top stop within the division.  The Cardinals were able to utilize their mid-season break by getting back on track with a win over the River Hawks after suffering a tough defeat at the hands of d’Youville in the game before.

Head Coach of the Cardinals Matt Fitzpatrick and his coaching staff have worked hard to relay the importance of executing the fundamentals to their team as they prepare for their crucial game.  In order to perform well against St. Roch, Fitzpatrick is challenging his offence to give a top-notch performance against the Ravens.  “I think we can get more production from our offence this week.  We definitely have to crank up the offence and unleash some of the weapons we have.”

This will be the second year in which St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Roch play a regular season game against one another in the Rogers Centre.  However, with the Toronto Argonauts moving to a new home for the 2016 season, these remaining football games at the amateur and professional level could be the last of their kind at the Rogers Centre.  With this in mind, both the Cardinals and Ravens players are really excited about the experience they are about to receive this week.   “I think these kids will be very enthusiastic about it.  They are going to be in a world-class stadium and it could be some of the last times football is ever played in this building,” reflects Fitzpatrick.

Coach Beresford for St. Roch believes this experience at the Rogers Centre is important to the kids because it gives them something bigger than Brampton.  “It’s a bit of an eye opener for some of these guys to be able to play on that field where Grey Cups, Vanier Cups and World Series have been won.  We believe it is an honor to share the same field in a competitive fashion, so we are very grateful to the Argos for giving us this opportunity.”

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