Moncton High finishes the regular season a perfect 7-0, St. Malachy’s finishes the regular season a terrible 0-7

Moncton High (6-0) attempted to complete a perfect regular season as they faced Simonds (1-5). More importantly, Moncton High used this game as an opportunity to try to work on any weaknesses they may have, as they defeated Simonds 42-6. What a season for Moncton High, outscoring their opponents 246-76. However, anything less than a championship would make their perfect regular season meaningless!

Friday’s game between MacNaughton (4-2) and Harrison Trimble (5-1) was a match where the winner would finish second in the conference, the loser third. Sure the winner would be home team in the quarter-final, and the two teams already knew they’d meet in the quarter-final, but it really didn’t mean much else. They’re both Moncton teams so technically they both get home field advantage.
MacNaughton won this game 17-10. This was a good game for both teams as they kind of both got prepared for the playoff game.
Harrison Trimble is definitely worried about injuries as both veteran quarterback Kris Brine, along with linebacker Kleighton Killam, a provincial all-star, are questionable for this Friday’s playoff game. Brine suffered an ankle injury in just the second series of the game, forcing receiver Josh Levesque to play quarterback. Killam suffered a jaw injury.
Harrison Trimble Head Coach Mark Teed said “It was a good game, and very physical, probably more physical than we anticipated. Give MacNaughton’s defence credit. They shut us down and they had a great game. I just told our guys that MacNaughton might have won this battle, but we can still come back to win this war.”
Ed Wasson, head coach of MacNaughton, said “it was just the kind of game you expect from second and third place teams. It was a tough game and both teams have a lot of work ahead of them to prepare for our next meeting.”
Grade 11 quarterback Greg Burdett threw touchdown passes to Morgan Tatlock and Daniel MacLean. Chris Stevenson was successful on both point-after-touchdown-kicks, Burdett punted a single, and their defence recorded a safety.
Brett Robart scored the only touchdown for Harrison Trimble. Jesse McKay was successful on the point-after-touchdown-kick, while adding a field goal.
Riverview High (2-4) faced Tantramar (1-5) with the winner clinching the fourth and final playoff spot, and a date with Moncton High in the first round. Both teams knew that if they can get in the playoffs, anything’s possible from there.
Riverview High looked like they might put it away early, as they got a 14-0 lead. They perhaps got overconfident as Tantramar tied the game 21-21 at halftime. Tantramar then got ahead 36-31. In the final minute, near midfield, Riverview High was attempting to make a comeback. It fell short, as Nick Lister made an interception for Tantramr, putting the game away. Personally, I find there being no better way to put a game away than by an interception!
Scott O’Neal, head coach of Tantramar, said “We were able to control the ball. We held the ball for some long drives to keep their offence off the field. They have some great athletes on offence and they can do a lot of damage so we wanted them off the field.”
O’Neal added “I’ve been around football for a long time as a player and as a coach and I know anything can happen when you get into the playoffs. I told the players that Moncton High beat us twice, but it’s hard for any team to win three in a row against the same team. We’ll be ready for them. We’ll be ready to play another tough, hard-nosed game of Titans(Tantramar) football. No team will be in better shape than us and we’ll be ready for whatever they bring.”
Both MacNaughton and Harrison Trimble were tied for second in the conference, while both Tantramar and Riverview High were tied for fourth in the conference. The tie-breaker when it only involves two team is based on head-to-head records.
Riverview High certainly looked promising early this season, with a 2-1 record, before dropping their final four games. Their head coach, Guy Messervier, said “At certain points in the game, we paid for our inexperience.” This philosophy might have something to do with how Riverview High blew their season away. After week four, Ed Wasson, in his ninth season as head coach of MacNaughton, said “Every team has played four games so there are no more excuses about being young or inexperienced at this level. We used the first four games to find out exactly where we are and we’re going to use the rest of the season to find out where we are going.” MacNaughton has won five championships since he became head coach. I’d say use the MacNaughton method, not the Riverview High method, if you want to succeed.
Kennebecasis (3-3) knew that a victory would certainly get them into the playoffs, but they also knew a loss and help could get them in. Leo Hayes (2-4) desperately needed to win to have a chance to get into the playoffs. They managed to defeated Kennebecasis, 44-8!

Oromocto (3-3) also knew a victory would secure them a playoff birth, while a loss would still give them a chance to make the playoffs. Saint John High (4-2) was already certain they’d make the playoffs, and they finished the year 5-2, defeating Leo Hayes 35-17.
Three teams finish tied for third in their conference, yet only four teams in the conference get to make the playoffs. Each team played each other once: Leo Hayes beat Kennebecasis, Kennebecasis beat Oromocto, and Oromocto beat Leo Hayes. So it goes down to point differential in the meetings. Leo Hayes gets third place, at 70-37, Kennebecasis gets fourth at 65-72, while Oromocto is out at 57-83.
It is for geographical purposes that there are seven teams in the Western Conference, with only five teams in the Eastern Conference. In my opinion, there should be a clause that if the fifth place team in the west finishes ahead of the fourth place team in the east, the fifth place team in the west becomes the fourth place team in the east. In this case, Oromocto would be playing Moncton High, as they finished with a better record than Tantramar.
Fredericton High, in a game that didn’t mean anything in the standings, as they already clinched first place in the Western Conference still defeated St. Malachy’s 49-0! St. Malacahy’s finished their terrible season 0-7, being outscored 18-290.
All four quarter-final matchups take place Friday. Eastern Conference matchups will take place at Rocky Stone (Moncton), with MacNaughton playing Harrison Trimble at 4 p.m., and Tantramar playing Moncton High at 7 p.m. Western Conference Quarter-Final matchups see Leo Hayes playing Saint John High at 7 p.m. at Canada Games (Saint John), and Kennebecasis playing Fredericton High at 7 p.m. at Scotia South (Fredericton).
I predict MacNaughton and Moncton High will meet in the championship game, with MacNaughton once again coming away with the championship.

 

 

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

Leave a Reply