ONT (LOSSA – Durham) Recap: Defense leads Titans to shutout win

With their backs against a wall in the race for second place, the Holy Titans faced a must win situation against their arch-rivals Donald A Wilson Gators.

The Titans offense has come under fire after producing a total of zero touchdowns in their past two losses; the offense finally responded with time consuming drives and even a touchdown. The Titan defense played a superb game, holding the Gators to zero first downs until midway through the  third quarter.

As for the Gators they are left with questions and a now very tough road to LOSSA, needing to win against Paul Dwyer and St. Marys respectively to give themselves a shot at defending their LOSSA title. The Titans have a bye week then play either Ajax or Pickering in the semifinals.

The first quarter would see the Titans defense dominate, not allowing a single first down. The Titans defense was so dominant that not a single play was run on the Titans side of the field. The Holy Trinity offense however sputtered and could not put up a single point in the entire first quarter despite starting every drive inside Gator territory.

The second quarter would see much the same with both defenses stifling the opposing offense. With the game going the way it was both teams began to look for sparks, and with five minutes left the Titans would get one. The Titans defense would force a punt from deep inside Gator territory, the punt would take a favourable Gator bounce into Holy Trinity territory.

Nathan Jones ran back to field it, and proceeded to rip off an ankle breaking return, making multiple defenders miss in tight spaces to put the Titans up 7-0. Later in the second, the Titans offence would end its dry spell with  a Chris Waldinsperger pass to Derek Cyr to put the Titans up 14-0 heading into half time.

The third quarter would  see the Gators tighten up defensively and improve on offense. The Gators got their first first down with 7:11 left in the third and settled into somewhat of a rhythm as they moved down the field slowly but surely. The Titans defense needed to make a play to keep Wilson out of the game as a score would give them momentum, so inside their own 35 they dug deep. The Titans defensive line would surge into the backfield to muff a hand off for a fumble, Calvin Leppizera would jump on the ball to end the Gators first realistic scoring chance.

With the fourth quarter would return the dominance of the defenses with both offenses struggling to move the ball effectively. The final quarter of the regular season would also see the Holy Trinity defense get on the board for the second time in as many weeks when defensive back Josh Ritchie would pick off an overthrown ball and return it all the way to end zone and provide the back breaker, putting the Titans up 21-0.

Later in the quarter Titans cornerback Josh Powers would intercept another pass to end another Gator drive. A long drive by the offense would then kill the clock for the Titans and leave them with a sweet victory over their archrivals.

The Game was filled with the emotion one would expect from this rivalry, though the expectation was that the game would be a lot closer than it turned out to be. The Titans have earned themselves a bye week and will not have to play this coming week. As for the Gators, they go on the road to Paul Dwyer for the LOSSA quarter finals.