One-sided officiating hands victory to Moncton High

They lead 18-6 when Tantramar scored a touchdown and successful on the point after kick with about six or seven minutes remaining to lower the margin to 18-13. They chose to go for the onside kick….. and were successful. On third down, they threw an incomplete pass. Yes, that’s correct, it should be turnover on downs.

Problem, however, is that there was a late hit on the quarterback that Moncton High was lucky to get away with. Moncton High would later get away with a player staying down for a long time on the ground and keep him out for the following play. Adding to Tantramar’s frustration was that Moncton High also didn’t get penalized for spending much more than 30 seconds on a 30 second timeout.

Unfortunately for Tantramar, they got called for defensive interference before a third and short, allowing Moncton High to get another first down. Latter in the drive, the officials awarded another first down to Moncton High when they were clearly short on the first down.

Tantramar’s defense did end up forcing Moncton High to punt. Problem was there wasn’t much time left on the clock, combined with the fact they were out of timeouts.

Adding to the poor officiating was the fact nearing midfield, Tantramar clearly got a first down, yet they weren’t awarded it. Third down was coming up. Had the officials gave Tantramar first down, which they deserved, there would have been enough time left on the clock to spike the ball and have a team huttle to help prepare for a hail mary. Tantramar still was able to get the ball snaped but were unsuccessful on third down.

When the officials make this many errors in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, they should not be welcome back to officiate.

John Allanach, Head Coach of Moncton High, said “It’s the playoffs and both teams showed up for a very physical football game. It was a close game from start to finish and we were able to come out of it with a win.”

Brett Power and Andrew Ryder each had touchdowns for Moncton High. Jesse Leblanc was successful on both point-after-touchdown kicks, while adding a field goal. Mickey Wu added a single point on a punt.

Riley Morice-Chase and quarterback Anton Sianchuk scored touchdowns for Tantramar.

MacNaughton and Harrison Trimble, a pair of 5-2 regular season teams, met in the other Eastern Conference quarter-final. Part of postseason success usually means to win the war of attrition. Harrison Trimble’s starting quarterback, Kris Brine, suffered an ankle injury the previous week and wasn’t ready to comeback. Dan Maxwell did the best that he could do to cover as quarterback. It was not enough, as MacNaughton won 23-7.

Four times in the second half, Harrison Trimble went for it on third and short. All four times, MacNaughton’s defence was too strong. Mark Teed, Head Coach of Harrison Trimble, said “It’s the age old question. Do you go for it, or do you punt it?”

Andrew Matchett. defensive end of MacNaughton, was a major reason for their defensive success. He had five quarterback sacks and four solo tackles “That was a tough game. We had a strong start, came out in the second half without as much intensity then we got our intensity back late in the game. Trimble played a great game, and I have nothing but respect for their team. Both teams played a strong game.”

Kieran Ellis also had an interception. Greg Burdett, punter and quarterback, recovered a punt in the end zone for a touchdown. Daniel MacLean and Morgan Tatlock, on 10-yard and seven-yard passes from Burdett, respectively, also scored touchdowns. Tatlock’s four receptions were a total of 109 yards. Harrison Trimble also surrendered a safety.

Brett Robart ran a three-yard touchdown for Harrison Trimble’s only score early in the second half, while Eric Allen was successful on the point-after-touchdown. This cut MacNaughton’s lead to 9-7 before MacNaughton put the game away.

In the Western Conference, 6-1 Fredericton High showed why they were the best in their conference, crushing Kennebecasis (3-4) 56-7, while Saint John High (5-2) defeated Leo Hayes (3-4) 50-27.

The semi-finals will see the conferences crossover. Fredericton High hosts MacNaughton at Soctia South (Fredericton), while Moncton High hosts Saint John High at Rocky Stone Memorial Field (Mocnton). Both games take place Friday evening at 7 p.m.

In every inter-conference game this season, the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference. Playoffs are totally different as the regular season means absolutely nothing to the remaining teams.