Three for three – Stampeders host division finals

For the bantams it was a tough, come from behind win, the JVs and varsity squads had an easier time of it. All three Burlington entries into the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) will host the south division finals this Sunday at Nelson stadium in the next step of the quest for a three-peat. In 2010, all three teams won championship titles.

Bantam Stampeders pull out win in closing seconds to advance in playoffs

Fans in London got their monies worth Saturday with an exciting game that had the scoring go back and forth with the Stampeders pulling out a win in the dying minutes of the game 28-22.
“We came up with a game plan and the boys executed it perfectly.” said head coach Cliff Bruce. “We played a great game and we will need to play even better this week-end.”

The Thunderbirds opened the scoring in the first quarter and the Stampeders replied with a TD by Andrew Pipilas, the first of four. London scored again and Burlington answered with a 75 yard kick return by Pipilas for his second TD. The Stampeders then were up 21-14 at half time. In the 3rd quarter Mitchell Baker tackled for a safety to stretch the lead. The Thunderbirds came back with a TD and two point conversion late in the fourth quarter. The bantam Stampeders rallied back to score with 32 seconds left in the game. The Thunderbirds were taking full advantage of their QBs ability to complete long bombs to his receivers. However, Michael Choma sealed the victory with an interception to give the Stamps possession and the lead in the final seconds.

The coaching crew took full advantage of the young talent they’ve developed over the course of the season. The offensive line created opportunities for four running backs and two quarterbacks. QBs Jacob Racco had two completions in the first half, and Jake Wayland another four after the break. Pipilas ran for 156 yards and Dominic Mandalfino added 106. Ethan Law and Kevin Boelhouwer helped keep the London defence on their toes.

The defence held the Thunderbirds offence to rely on the passing game. Tyson Delic led the defence with a sack, blocked punt and eight tackles. Evan Luckie recovered a blocked punt and added six tackles. Jack Miller and Eddie Schmidt both recovered fumbles along with seven and five tackles respectively. Josh Chedore had an interception in the second quarter and four tackles. Choma has six tackles in addition to his interception and Tyler Roy recovered a blocked punt and added three tackles.

The bantams host Chatham this Sunday in the south division final at 12 noon.

Junior Varsity advances

Burlington’s Junior Varsity Stamps advance to division finals with win 42-3 win over London
The imposing offensive line consisting of Alex Furlan, Ben Howlett, James Morin, Ryan Price, and Nick Thun once again secured the line of scrimmage allowing for the rushing attack. Running back Jonathan Howard took full advantage and exploded when the ball was in his possession, easily changing direction slipping through the Forest City defence netting five touchdowns for the day. Running back Jake Lavigne powered through defence line shaking off his attackers adding the final touchdown for the day. Kicker Adam McIntosh continues to show incredible consistency on all six conversions.

Defensively the Stamps linebackers minimized the advancement of the Forest City offence. Addison Olah played with great intensity resulting in a sack and six ferocious tackles. Linebacker Bryce James, lead tackler with great reads on the plays, ended the game with seven hits. Carter Gladman and Dustin Snider added five tackles each while 64 Andrew Ziebart, Derek Osborne netted four apiece. Safety Justin Veltri’s interception during the fourth quarter took away any final scoring opportunity for the Forest City Thunderbirds.
Head Coach Andy van Oosterhout pleased with the win but was quick to remind his players that it is the play offs and they cannot let up. He encouraged his players to arrive at practice ready to work because the competition is about to heat up with teams vying to be the one to ruin the Stampeders’ perfect season.

The JVs host the Twin Cities Predators who suffered their only loss to the Stampeders. Game time is 2:30pm.

Varsity Stampeders win over Hamilton, advance to division championship

The varsity Stampeders defence didn’t allow the Hamilton Panthers an earned first down until the last series in the first half. Hamilton took advantage of a changed up offence, quarterbacked by an offensive lineman to march the ball down to end zone. The Stamps responded with a touch down pass to the end zone. Hamilton’s one drive wasn’t enough, to overcome the 35-6 deficit at the break. The Stampeders won 42-6 and will host the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) south division championship game this Sunday.

The match up was closer than the score would indicate. The Hamilton defence had a rare sack on quarterback Will Finch on the Stamps’ first possession and no points were on the board until seven minutes left and they had more punting than any other game of the season. The Stampeders’ own punt return team saw a lot of action as well as a result of the disciplined defensive effort blocking the Panthers ability to earn a first down and minimizing the penalties of earlier meetings between the two squads.

Aaron Veltri had a big game with a 60 yard td run in the first quarter with some terrific blocking to make it possible, then had a second TD in the second quarter. Josh Vanderweerd two-time OFC player of the week, had a marathon 82 yard run for a touchdown just before the close of the first quarter. With the running game establish Finch was able to go to his passing game finding Doug Corby and Brett Blasko for another two TDs before the break. Muhamed Tutic ran another in after the break. Alexander White was perfect in kicking the converts.

The varsity squad will face the Twin-Cities Predators from Kitchener-Waterloo. The Predators suffered their only loss this season to the Stampeders and will be looking to avenge the loss and that in last year’s championship game to the Burlington team. Last year, the varsity Stamps lost to the Predators but came back to win the championship. The year before, the reverse had happened, and the Predators won the trophy. Game time for the varsity teams is 5pm.

Photo courtesy: Eddy Furlan (accept top)