The Holy Cross Crusaders won the Eastern Ontario High School Senior boys football championship on Wednesday at Richardson Stadium.
The Kingston champions defeated the Gananoque Trojans, the Seaway Valley winners, 15-14.
“Gananoque showed a lot of character,” said Crusaders quarterback Tom Pendergast.
Gananoque is registered as a single ‘A’ school with an enrollment of less than 500 students. Holy Cross is a triple ‘A’ high school with a population of 1,500.
“Gan gave us all we could handle,” added Pendergast, who scored the winning touchdown on a four-yard run. Scoring majors for the Trojans were Matt Donovan and Jason Tuck.
“They shocked us in the first half but we regrouped and started to play our game. Our defence came up with a big second-half performance. They shut the Trojans down and on offence, we scored just enough points to win.”
Defence played a key role in the victory and leading the way was Crusader’s defensive end Tanner Hawley.
“We gave up some early points but settled down in the second half,” said Hawley. “Our coaches made some changes and it really paid off.”
The weather was a factor but both teams had to play in the snow and cold.
“Every down was a battle, but in the end, we came out with the win and that’s all you can ask for. It was a great game, a very tough victory.”
Holy Cross now advances to the OFSSA Bowl festival scheduled for Monday, Nov. 26 at TD Place in Ottawa.
They will play Thomas A. Stewart of Peterborough. Game time is 1 p.m. Holy Cross, which opened in 1986 will play in the big game for the first time in the school’s history.
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