COMFL: Stampeders sweep into championship games

The Stampeders hosted teams from Scarborough, Hamilton and Brampton at Nelson Stadium last Sunday and completed the third sweep in a row. The bantam and peewee teams have perfect seasons so far, and the atoms lost only their season opener. For the first time in recent memory, all three Central Ontario Minor Football League (COMFL) championship games will have a Stampeder team competing at Esther Shriner Stadium in North York November 6. Each will take on the Niagara Generals.

Bantams blank Scarborough

The Burlington bantam Stampeders blanked the Scarborough Thunder 25 – 0 in semi-final action Sunday.

Nick Casola scored the first touchdown of the game on a 35 yard pass play option from Jason Uleryk-Carvalho and quarterback Nathan Rourke. Casola also converted the field goal to make the score 8-0.

There was no change to the score until the third quarter of the game when Uleryk-Carvalho scored the second Stampeder touchdown with 32 seconds left in the period. Casola completed the convert to make the score 16-0.

Casola attempted a field goal in the 4th quarter with 4:52 left in the game. The field goal attempt was blocked wide, but Burlington gained a 1 point safety for a tackle in the end zone.

Rourke completed the third Stampeders touchdown drive with a one-yard scramble in the fourth quarter with 58 seconds left in the game. Casola’s convert was good making the final score 25-0.

Strong offensive game from Nick Langley who ran for 187 yards, and caught for 21 yards, with a 25 yard punt return. Rayshawn Calim recovered a Stamps offensive fumble deep in the Scarborough Red Zone. Connor Knight caught 2 big passes for 25 yards and 31 yards to move Stamps into scoring position.

Burlington’s powerhouse defence shut down Scarborough Thunder and allowed no points on the score board.

The defence was led by Jack Miller and Zach Hoffner with nine tackles each, Jax Ford added another eight. George Jeffrey and Dominic Mandalfino gave strong support with five tackles each, with Mandalfino delivering a QB sack and a 24-yard interception return with 3:20 left to play.

Peewees run for win over Hamilton

The peewee Stampeders had the closest game on Sunday. They played the evenly paced game that many coaches look for, starting and finishing with the same intensity. They scored two majors and converts in the first half and again in the second half. Their opponents, the Hamilton junior Ti Cats scored two in the first half, but missed the converts making the score 16-12 at the break. The Stamps allowed one touchdown but no convert in the second half, leading a final score 32-18.
With only two turnovers, the peewee offence maintained control of most of the game with an impressive 56 carries, 33 by Matt Paul accounting for 168 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Paul also had two completions from quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Myles Manalo added another touchdown, James Condon was perfect on his four converts.
Manalo contributed defensively too with five tackles, Charlie George added four, Loeffler added a sack to his two tackles, Michael Lehmann picked up a fumble recovery and had two tackles also.

Atoms look to avenge only loss of the season

The Burlington Atom Stampeders faced Brampton Bulldogs this past Sunday in the COMFL semi-final game and Burlington walked away with a 32 – 6 victory.
The offence was again lead by Justin Gec and Zach Ihasz who combined for 275 of the 319 rushing yards and two touchdowns each. Jayden Dunnink had 40 rushing yards and one touchdown. Kenny Sproat rounded out Burlington’s scoring with a two-point touchdown conversion.
The defence again came out strong holding Brampton to only one touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Gec led the effort with nine tackles and one interception. Jack Hourigan and Brant Burnstein contributed four tackles each, Ihasz another three, Evan Unwin, Kade Butt, Jack Reiger had two each.
Special teams were also an important part of this game with Sproat kicking exceptionally well for the Stampeders with an average of 25.8 yards for his six kickoffs.
“We had to improvise a couple times today as injuries made us have to place players in different positions. They all responded positively to the challenge.” said head coach Jordan Johnston after Sunday’s victory. “Jayden (Dunnink) ended up playing five positions for us today. Now that’s awesome! We’ve been chomping at the bit all season to get another shot at Niagara. We’re looking forward to it next Sunday.”
Burlington moves to the COMFL finals next weekend against the Niagara Generals, the team that handed the atom team their only loss this season. The championship action starts with the atoms with a 9:30am kick-off, peewees start at noon and bantams at 2:30pm.

Photo is Tyler Little and Ethan Wakelin taken by Cheryl Luckie