The Vincent Massey Trojans staked claim to the ANAVETS Bowl with a convincing victory in the Winnipeg High School Football League’s division one championship game.
The Trojans scored 25 first half points and cruised to the city championship with a 25-2 win over the Grant Park Pirates in the final on Monday night at East Side Eagles Field.
Vincent Massey forced the Pirates to concede a pair of early safeties and then the Trojans scored three first half touchdowns before the defence held strong in the second half in route to winning the championship.
It’s just the third varsity football championship for Vincent Massey, after victories in 2015 and 2018.
Running back Siju Bodunrin scored two TD’s for the Trojans, while the other touchdown came off a pick-six from Caleb Thiessen.
Grant Park was chasing their first ever varsity city championship in football in the school’s more than 60-year history. It was the Pirates’ first loss of the season after five consecutive victories to qualify for the championship game. They defeated Vincent Massey 11-7 in their one and only meeting in the regular season.
The St. Paul’s Crusaders won the last ANAVETS Bowl in 2019 after the 2020 season was cancelled. Grant Park eliminated the defending champion Crusaders in the semifinal.
The championship game was delayed by 72 hours after last week’s snow storm forced the postponement.
The Dakota Lancers won the junior varsity crown earlier on Monday with a 55-24 victory over the Oak Park Raiders to win the school’s first ever J-V title.