Centennial Chargers running back #1 Hayden Deacon pushes past a Whitby defender in junior high school football on November 18th in Belleville. Centennial saw their season come to an end losing the game 21-10.
By Andrew Mendler
Local high school students in the Quinte region participated in seven different sports over the first two months of the school year.
The fall sports consisted of: football, cross country, boy’s soccer, boy’s volleyball, girl’s rugby, girl’s basketball and golf.
Football
The Moira Trojans and Centennial Chargers continued their success this season, meeting up in both the junior and senior high school football finals.
The schools split the Bay of Quinte titles with the Trojans finally beating the Chargers 20-3 to win the senior final and the Chargers coming out on top 14-10 in the junior final.
Centennial’s junior team had another great season. They successfully defeated Peterborough’s Crestwood 50-14 in the COSSA championships to advance to their third straight National Capital Bowl playoff game.
Their luck ran out against Whitby’s Wilson Gators losing 21-10 and taking their first lost of the season. The junior Chargers finished the season 10-1.
The seniors lost to Crestwood 27-13 after blowing an early 13-0 lead.
Moira’s season continued when the teams took on Peterborough’s Adam Scott in the COSSA AA championship.
The seniors were unable to get any offence going, losing 20-1 and effectively ending their season.
The juniors won 12-0, advancing to play Central Phoenix from Barrie.
Their 24-7 victory over Barrie has allowed them to qualify for the national semi-final game on November 26th against Brockville St. Mary’s.
Cross Country
The Trenton Tigers and East Northumberland Blue Dragons were the two most successful schools during this fall’s high school cross-country season.
Trenton’s Rachel Faulds ran her way to the region’s top single performance finishing second in the senior girls category at OFSAA.
Megan Quinn of St.Theresa and Natasha Whitely of Bayside also put in top 15 performances.
The East Northumberland Blue Dragons continued to dominate the cross-country ranks this season capturing their eleventh straight overall team COSSA championship.
Nick Vachon posted the teams best single performance, finishing 21st in the junior boy’s division.
Boys Soccer
The Prince Edward Collegiate Panthers senior boy’s soccer team captured their third straight COSSA AA championship this year with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over the Nicholson Crusaders.
The team will travel to North Bay in the spring to play in the Ontario championships.
Last season the team competed at OFSAA in Windsor, finishing 5th overall in all of Ontario.
The Centennial junior boys soccer team doubled up the East Northumberland Blue Dragons 4-2, winning the AAA COSSA championship. They will also be off to the OFSAA championships this spring.
Boys Volleyball
Quinte Christian Eagles and Ecole Marc Garneau were the top teams in the Bay of Quinte boy’s volleyball circuit this season.
The two schools split the COSSA championships with Marc Garneau coming away with the junior A win and Quinte Christian taking the senior A title.
The Eagles are of to a great start winning their first two games at the OFSSA tournament on Manitoulin Island. Matches continue into this weekend.
Girl’s Rugby
Three local teams produced winning seasons this year in girl’s high school rugby.
In Senior AAA action the Centennial Chargers came away with a COSSA silver medal losing 13-10 in double overtime to Peterborough’s St.Peter’s Saints.
The girl’s AA division titles were split between the Quinte Saints and Trenton Tigers
The seniors won 10-5 while the to capture title and will most likely be the number one seed heading into the OFSAA championship next June in Ottawa.
The Tigers fared better in the junior final easily defeating the Saints 35-0.
Girls Basketball
In girl’s basketball, the St. Theresa Titans used home court to their advantage this season, sweeping both Bay of Quinte AA finals games.
The senior’s defeated their inner-city rivals, the Nicholson Crusaders, 47-26, in the senior final, while the junior team dominated the Quinte Saints 48-12.
Both teams travelled to the COSSA championships in Peterborough and were only partially successful.
The juniors won the AA gold medal, defeating Peterborough Holy Cross, while the seniors picked up the AA silver medal.
In local AAA action the Moira Trojans represented the Quinte region in this year’s COSSA championships.
Peterborough’s Lindsay Collegiate Spartans edged the senior Trojans 60-46, forcing Moira to settle with a silver medal.
The junior team was a little more successful in their championship match, sliding past the Nicholson Crusaders 30-21.
Golf
High school golf is divided into two competitive categories. There is an award for the best individual tournament score and another award for the best combined team score.
This season, Bayside’s Jamie Hough won the most individual honours. He captured the Bay of Quinte individual title before turning in the best local performance at the OFSSA.
Hough’s two-round score of 151 was good enough to finish 15th. Abbott Girduckis of Nicholson was the next highest local competitor finishing 21st.
He led his team to an eighth-place team finish among a 20 team field.