OVFL: Junior Varsity Ironmen’s playoff run ends in Cambridge

McGuire’s prediction was accurate. Despite Hamilton’s best effort, they fell short against the Cambridge Lions 37-22.

“Hats off to them, they’re a great team and they deserved the win,” McGuire commented, “Usually you can look at a loss and point to a bad penalty or a missed opportunity, but not this one. The refereeing was excellent and they didn’t commit any turnovers. I told the guys, we’re a great team, they just played better than us today.”

While Hamilton is obviously disappointed with the playoff exit after showing such promise in the regular season, McGuire insisted that the players were very professional after the loss and are proud of what they’ve accomplished together.

“It’s always disappointing when you lose, but I’m very happy with the season we had,” said McGuire, “you can’t win them all. That’s just football. I mean the guys took it a little hard at first, but by the time we were heading home, they were all smiles and singing on the bus. They realize that this is a game and it’s about having fun.”

While the Ironmen got off to a rough start against Cambridge, they fought and clawed their way back from a 17-0 first half deficit, to pull within 3 points. With the score 17-14, the momentum seemed to be swinging in Hamilton’s favour. That is until the Lions scored on the ensuing kickoff after Hamilton’s second touchdown.

One could point to that score as the real nail in coffin as the Ironmen never seemed to rebound from the quick score. However the name of the game seemed to be based on missed tackles and uncharacteristically dropped passes. Ironmen quarterback Liam Putt once again did his part to keep his team in the game.

“Liam played outstanding again,” echoed McGuire, “he did everything in his power, we just couldn’t finish for him.”

Of course one player doesn’t make a team, a season or a game for that matter. It took a team effort from the Ironmen to make it this far. If the running game hadn’t evolved late in the season or if the defence hadn’t continued to play stellar down the stretch, who knows where the Ironmen would have been. McGuire had nothing but praise for his players after their season-ending loss.

“These guys were out there playing for each other,” he said, “the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached. We have 5 running backs and each of them got carries, all of our receivers had big catches, we rotated everyone in on defence. This whole season was a total team effort.”

Which makes this loss a little easier to swallow.

“I just wish some of the parents took it as well as the kids did,” McGuire laughed.

A season of ups and downs ended in an impressive 6-2 record, a playoff win and exciting play in all three facets of the game. Considering that many of the defensive players were new (star cornerback Angelo Del Sordo was listed as a back-up quarterback at the start of the season) is nothing but a positive heading into the off-season. While the emergence of Liam Putt, who threw for 1729 yards and 18 touchdowns against only 4 interceptions in his first season as a starter, has the future looking very bright for Hamilton.

McGuire told me he wanted his players to know how proud he is of them, not so much for the season they had, but for the way they played throughout it.

“Obviously winning is the goal, but it’s the way that these guys did it,” he remarked, “They played with courage and respect, which is the way the game should be played. I’m very proud of them.”

So congratulations to the 2012 Junior Varsity Hamilton Ironmen on a great season and what’s to come. Could one be so bold to predict a championship for next year? With a team like this, I certainly wouldn’t bet against them.