Nawaz Tahir understands the sky-high expectations.
Last summer, Norbert Wolf coached the London Junior Falcons to their third Ontario Varsity Football League title in the past five years on home turf at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
Then, he moved to British Columbia.
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“Norbert left big shoes to fill,” said Tahir, the Harrison Pensa lawyer promoted to head coach after serving as special teams co-ordinator the past two years, “and I’m anxious to see what we can do this year. I told our guys they have a chance to do something no other team has done at the junior level and that’s repeat as champions.”
The OVFL title games (varsity, junior, pee wee) won’t be held in London again this year.
They’re heading to Ottawa.
But four of the conference championships — two in varsity and two in junior — will be held on the big stage at the Rogers Centre on August 15. It’s part of a football week in Toronto to promote an Argonauts and Buffalo Bills games.
“The kids are pretty excited about the opportunity — it should be fun,” Falcons president and varsity head coach Mike Esposito said, “but you have to get there first. There are some tough teams in the league.”
Last summer, the Falcons became the first organization to reach the championship game at all three age groups in the same season.
Only the juniors prevailed by outscoring Ottawa 57-49.
Now, they’ll try to defend their title.
“I’ll have a better idea where we stand after we play our first game (May 28) against Cambridge, which should be a good test for our team,” said Tahir, also the defensive co-ordinator for the Lucas senior team. “We have pretty much our entire coaching staff intact and they’re a great group to be around.”
The Falcons have reliable ball carriers in Adam Sinclair (Mother Teresa) and Avery Lawrence (John Paul II).
“They’re both back from last year and they’re going to be horses for us,” Tahir said.
There are sweeping changes next year to teams under the Ontario Football Alliance. The age groups will be reconfigured and it will eliminate the oldest players in the varsity division — the 19-year-olds about to turn 20 already of university age.
“There’s always turnover, but this summer, we’ll only have some of the guys for one season (because of the age changes),” Tahir said.
Still, those Falcons have a shot to be part of something special — a game at the dome and some OVFL history.
In varsity, Mother Teresa running back Alex Iezzi will be expected to gain big yardage for the Falcons.
“(John Paul II quarterback) Blake Huggins is back and he’s looked very good so far,” Esposito said. “We made the final and not everyone expected that. This team has that kind of potential — you never know what’ll happen.
“There are some good teams out there. Mississauga’s going to be strong. Hamilton will be good. The Toronto Thunder are under different ownership.”
The Gary Gerard-coached pee wee Falcons have made the final all three seasons since their inception in 2007. They’ve lost the title game the past two years.
By Ryan Pyette, The London Free Press
May 20, 2010
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
