OVFL SR: Ravens comeback for victory in the last 2 minutes

It was a tale of two halves. The Warriors and Ravens battled in Varsity age action in the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Warriors it was the first half which they won. The game was hilighted by some great players, great plays, and great coaching and strategy.http://www.canadafootballchat.us/news/attachments/4635-ravens-miss-jpg.html

The first drive of the game saw the Ravens run the ball down the field behind the big Raven offensive line. The Warriors adjusted as the drive went on and managed to stop them at their own 26 yards line. The 33 yard field goal attempt by Matthew Paonessa was good and put the Ravens up early three to zero.

The Warriors countered with a decent drive of their own with QB Aaron Clark (McMaster commit) hooking up with REC Keon Hughes on a few of the plays. The drive stalled at the Raven 35 yard line and the Warriors decided to punt for field position. The strategy worked as the short punt saw the punter Marcus Hobbs recover the punt and maintain ball possession for the Warriors. Soon after the Warriors took the lead on a Kasean Davis rushing touchdown. Hobbs kicked the convert to put the Warriors up 7 to 3, a score which held up through the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Warriors maintained momentum and the defense came up with some timely plays, which the offense converted into another touchdown. This time from 5 yards out, QB Aaron Clark took a ‘zone-read type’ play into the end zone and after the Hobbs convert they led by a score of 14 to 3.

The Ravens countered this touchdown with a long drive of their own. The running of Cody McCann and Nick Vincent was the hilight of the drive for the Ravens. The hilight for the Warriors was when defensive end Ryan Correia sacked raven QB Josh Deehan and took away the threat of a touchdown. The Ravens settled for a Paonessa field goal.

Just before the half the Warriors took possession of the football and got into the ‘no-huddle’ offense. With seconds left the Warriors got the ball down to the Raven 43 yard line. On the last play of the half Hobbs lined up for a 50 yard field goal and hit it…making the halftime score 17 to 6…a happy Warrior bench and an unhappy Raven one.

The second half saw the Warriors lose something they had in the first half…’MO’. The Ravens grabbed ‘MO’ from them and the ’emotional’ Warrior team could not get it back.

The third quarter started with the Warriors giving up a safety and then on the ensuing Raven drive the visitors scored to make the score 17 to 15. The touchdown play was a nice accurate pass from Deehan to Jelani Ashaki-Mahluli. Deehan struggled with his accuracy all night but came through when it counted in this clutch situation.

The fourth quarter saw the big offensive line of the Ravens start to wear down the front of the Warriors. RBs McCann (13 carries, 100 yards) and Vincent (18 carries, 139 yards) began to benefit from bigger holes than they were use to in the first half.

Early in the quarter the Ravens had a field goal attempt blocked by the Warrior defense. Also in the early parts of the quarter, field position began to favour the Warriors. Back and forth the teams went…until.

With under 4 minutes to go in the game Deehan hooked up with a wide open Josh Strong-Gates (not the first time he was wide open) for a big play that changed the field position and put the Ravens in the Warrior red zone. Soon after McCann pounded the ball in for the go ahead touchdown (22-17) with 1:59 remaining in the game.

The next drive the Warriors employed the hurry up offense. Some nifty plays from QB Clark early in the drive saw the Warriors march the ball to around mid field. But with 1:07 remaining Raven defensive back #25 Beau Lumley picked the ball off and the Ravens now could run out the clock on offense.

Players to Watch
Essex:
25 Beau Lumley DB
22 Austin Crumb DB
37 Jordan Deneau DB
32 Nick Vincent RB
23 Cody McCann RB
66 Jon Langley DT

Mississauga
7 Aaron Clark QB
10 Keon Hughes REC
93 Ryan Correia DL
30 Kasean Davis RB
55 Sean Snary LB

CIS scouts:
Pat Tracey – Queens
Stuart Smith – McMaster
Donovan Carter – Toronto
Joe D’amore – Windsor
Stephen O’Brien – Guelph

CIS coaches on staff:
Tom Flaxman (Acadia) Mississauga
Adrian Dutchak (York) Mississauga

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

Leave a Reply

OVFL SR: Ravens comeback for victory in the last 2 minutes


It was a tale of two halves. The Warriors and Ravens battled in Varsity age action in the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Warriors it was the first half which they won. The game was hilighted by some great players, great plays, and great coaching and strategy.

The first drive of the game saw the Ravens run the ball down the field behind the big Raven offensive line. The Warriors adjusted as the drive went on and managed to stop them at their own 26 yards line. The 33 yard field goal attempt by Matthew Paonessa was good and put the Ravens up early three to zero.

The Warriors countered with a decent drive of their own with QB Aaron Clark (McMaster commit) hooking up with REC Keon Hughes on a few of the plays. The drive stalled at the Raven 35 yard line and the Warriors decided to punt for field position. The strategy worked as the short punt saw the punter Marcus Hobbs recover the punt and maintain ball possession for the Warriors. Soon after the Warriors took the lead on a Kasean Davis rushing touchdown. Hobbs kicked the convert to put the Warriors up 7 to 3, a score which held up through the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Warriors maintained momentum and the defense came up with some timely plays, which the offense converted into another touchdown. This time from 5 yards out, QB Aaron Clark took a ‘zone-read type’ play into the end zone and after the Hobbs convert they led by a score of 14 to 3.

The Ravens countered this touchdown with a long drive of their own. The running of Cody McCann and Nick Vincent was the hilight of the drive for the Ravens. The hilight for the Warriors was when defensive end Ryan Correia sacked raven QB Josh Deehan and took away the threat of a touchdown. The Ravens settled for a Paonessa field goal.

Just before the half the Warriors took possession of the football and got into the ‘no-huddle’ offense. With seconds left the Warriors got the ball down to the Raven 43 yard line. On the last play of the half Hobbs lined up for a 50 yard field goal and hit it…making the halftime score 17 to 6…a happy Warrior bench and an unhappy Raven one.

The second half saw the Warriors lose something they had in the first half…’MO’. The Ravens grabbed ‘MO’ from them and the ’emotional’ Warrior team could not get it back.

The third quarter started with the Warriors giving up a safety and then on the ensuing Raven drive the visitors scored to make the score 17 to 15. The touchdown play was a nice accurate pass from Deehan to Jelani Ashaki-Mahluli. Deehan struggled with his accuracy all night but came through when it counted in this clutch situation.

The fourth quarter saw the big offensive line of the Ravens start to wear down the front of the Warriors. RBs McCann (13 carries, 100 yards) and Vincent (18 carries, 139 yards) began to benefit from bigger holes than they were use to in the first half.

Early in the quarter the Ravens had a field goal attempt blocked by the Warrior defense. Also in the early parts of the quarter, field position began to favour the Warriors. Back and forth the teams went…until.

With under 4 minutes to go in the game Deehan hooked up with a wide open Josh Strong-Gates (not the first time he was wide open) for a big play that changed the field position and put the Ravens in the Warrior red zone. Soon after McCann pounded the ball in for the go ahead touchdown (22-17) with 1:59 remaining in the game.

The next drive the Warriors employed the hurry up offense. Some nifty plays from QB Clark early in the drive saw the Warriors march the ball to around mid field. But with 1:07 remaining Raven defensive back #25 Beau Lumley picked the ball off and the Ravens now could run out the clock on offense.

Players to Watch
Essex:
25 Beau Lumley DB
22 Austin Crumb DB
37 Jordan Deneau DB
32 Nick Vincent RB
23 Cody McCann RB
66 Jon Langley DT

Mississauga
7 Aaron Clark QB
10 Keon Hughes REC
93 Ryan Correia DL
30 Kasean Davis RB
55 Sean Snary LB

CIS scouts:
Pat Tracey – Queens
Stuart Smith – McMaster
Donovan Carter – Toronto
Joe D’amore – Windsor
Stephen O’Brien – Guelph

CIS coaches on staff:
Tom Flaxman (Acadia) Mississauga
Adrian Dutchak (York) Mississauga

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

Leave a Reply