Pickering wins a thriller in Ontario regional junior championship

Ontario Regional Football Championship

Final

Wednesday, November 28th

Pickering 30, Blessed Trinity (SOSSA) 27
The Pickering Trojans became the second LOSSA based school to capture the Ontario Regional Junior Championship as they edged by the Blessed Trinity Thunder 30-27 in a tightly contested championship game played at St. Michael’s College.
Playing four down football in the opening half, the Trojans put together a 12 play drive spanning six and a half minutes however they were stopped without a point by the Blessed Trinity defense who forced a Trojan turnover on downs at the eleven yard line.  Unable to move the ball, Blessed Trinity elected to have their punter concede a two point safety credited to Kyeree Reynolds.  The margin became nine when the ensuing kick off was returned 73 yards by Justice Johnson, who added the convert.
Early in the second quarter, the Thunder punted and quickly pounced on a fumble in the Pickering red zone at the 14 yard line.  Coupled with an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play, the ball was placed on the one yard line.  Trinity’s semi-final game MVP, Austin Whetton immediately took the ball to the house and the point after by Luke Consiglio cut the margin to two.  Ninety seconds later, Trojan quarterback Jaylen Latouche, dropped back to pass, was hit in the backfield, and fumbled the ball.  This gave the Thunder first down at the Pickering 26.  This turnover led to a 14 yard run by Bryce Kiefer giving the Grimsby based school their first lead of the game.  Consiglio’s point after made the score 14-9.  Apparently stalled at their own 49, Pickering faked a punt and Kesean Bennett attempted to sweep left.  He found a wall of Thunder players poised to bring him down well short of the first down marker and he alertly pitched the ball to kicker Tarrick Brissant who rambled 61 yards for a Trojan touchdown.  Johnson added his second convert of the match to put the Trojans on top 16-14 with less than two minutes to the half.  Undeterred, Blessed Trinity responded with Noah Lane hooking up with Theo Schut for a 56 yard pass and run with 37 ticks on the clock.  Consiglio picked up his third convert of the quarter and the Thunder retook the lead 21-16.  Trinity then managed to recover the kickoff, Pickering’s fourth turnover of the opening half, at the 39 yard line.  They quickly moved the ball and the Trojans were able to escape when Keyshaun Cumberbatch brought Whetton to the turf inside the ten yard line as the first half ended.
The second half saw the two schools playing three down football ..The Trojans recovered a Thunder fumble on the kickoff, gaining possession at the Thunder 35, but they were unable to move the ball as the defense shut them down.  Gambling on third down, they turned the ball over.  Trinity was unable to move the ball and punted.  With just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter Latouche connected with Johnson for a 43 yard pass inside the Thunder 15 yard line.  A horse collar call on the play saw the ball advanced to the one yard line where Darnel Jarrett would carry the ball in for the major.  With a one point lead, Pickering went for a two point convert however the attempt failed when Latouche was sacked before he could release the ball.  Blessed Trinity responded with a solid drive using their fierce ground attack tandem of Whetton, Kiefer and Benny Ferrara.  Ferrera, the heavyweight of the three pronged attack eventually bulldozed his way to the end zone with 1:19 remaining in the third stanza. A bad snap led to a failed convert and the Thunder led 27-22.  At this point, the Thunder kick off team made the mistake of kicking the ball to Johnson.  As was the case in the opening quarter Johnson broke through the Thunder tacklers and was heading uncontested to the end zone when he decided to back peddle in from the five yard line.  Flags flew everywhere and instead of the Trojans regaining the lead, the objectionable conduct call saw them backed up to the Thunder 20.  They were able to move the ball with Jarrett breaking lose for a big gain which set up Bennett for a one yard plunge.  Once again, the Trojans went for a two point convert and the convert was good as a pass was completed to Johnson making the score 30-27.
The fourth quarter saw the teams exchange possessions with neither team able to generate points.  With about six minutes left, the Thunder put together a sustained drive with the highlight being a nice pass reception by Thomas Barker.  The Thunder marched the ball to the Pickering 16 yard line.  With Lane throwing, his pass was deflected off a Thunder receiver and intercepted by Cumberbatch giving the Trojans possession at their own 13 with just under six minutes remaining.  A few plays later, Pickering once again went with the fake punt well inside their side of the field and Bennett carried the ball 49 yards.  A 36 yard touchdown run by Jarrett was called back on an illegal procedure call and the margin remained at three as the Thunder took possession at their 18 yard line.  Lane, having to work his offense without Whitten (forced out of the game with an arm/shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter), would connect with Leslie Brown for a 24 yard gain and a first down however the Thunder would lose possession on downs three plays later when Brown was unable to pick up first down yardage on a third down gamble.  Using time outs, the Thunder defense forced Pickering to punt again and they had one last chance starting at their 30 yard line with 38 seconds on the clock.  On third down, Lane would move the sticks as he carried the ball 12 yards before going out of bounds.  Lane then connected with Kieffer on a 24 yard pass and run with one second remaining.  Facing a field goal attempt of over 50 yards, the Thunder went for the long pass.  Intended for a well covered Barker, the pass was incomplete as the game ended.
Post game MVP awards were given to Kesean Bennett and Benny Ferrara.

First Quarter
03:44 Pickering  SFT Kyeree Reynolds (punter conceded)
03:29 Pickering  TD Justice Johnson (73 yd kickoff return), C Justice Johnson
Second Quarter
10:05 Blessed Trinity TD Austin Whetton (1 yd run), C Luke Consiglio
06:25 Blessed Trinity TD Bryce Kieffer (14 yd run), C Luke Consiglio
01:51 Pickering TD Tarrick Brissett (61 yard run on a fake punt), C Justice Johnson
00:37 Blessed Trinity TD Austin Whetton (56 yd pass), C Luke Consiglio
Third Quarter
06:38 Pickering  TD Darnel Jarrett (1 yd run)
01:19 Blessed Trinity  TD Benny Ferrara (8 yd run)
00:00 Pickering TD Kesean Bennett (1 yd run), 2ptC Justice Johnson (pass)
Fourth Quarter
No Scoring

Pickering: Justice Johnson TD, 2C, 2ptC, Tarrick Brissett TD, Darnel Jarrett TD, Kesean Bennett TD, Kyeree Reynolds SFT
Blessed Trinity: Austin Whetton 2TD, Bryce Kieffer TD, Benny Ferrara TD, Luke Consiglio 3C