It started out one-sided, but it turned into a highly entertaining Super Bowl XLVII last Sunday in New Orleans. The historic coaching battle between the Harbaugh brothers went to older sibling John in the end, as his Baltimore Ravens hung on for a 34-31 decision over Jim’s San Francisco 49ers. But only after a power outage and a determined comeback by the 49ers that fell agonizingly short. Full credit to both teams for an exciting finish to the NFL season.
Meanwhile, other football competition closer to home wrapped up recently. The level of play was different, but no less competitive, as local elementary school playoffs provided excellent football action.
Doug English was the coordinator of this year’s bantam (born 1999-2000) boys’ touch football league and playoffs. In the division for small schools registering less than 275 students, post-season playoffs culminated in a championship for the boys from Davis Road Elementary. On the winning team were players Rhys Mazurenko, Zac Morneau, Evan Schoenberger, Brandon Borelli, Hunter Livingston, Keiren Morneau, Darcy Dawe, Aiden Kirkham, Ethan Andersen and Oscar Hanke. Coach for the boys was Janelle Mould.
Runners-up for the district title were the boys from Gabriola Island Elementary. Representing their school were players Dakota Moonshadow, Zephyr Melnyk, Seger Marsh, Isaac Swift-Scott, Conner Maddison, Caleb Smith, Finn Bradbrooke, Caleb Pounds, Maren Bradbrooke, Blake Buchanan, Sebastian Deggan, Gavin Smith and Brandon Eves. The Gabriola squad was coached by Brenda Peacock.
Third place among small schools went to Pauline Haarer, where the team was coached by Mike Lundine. On the player roster were Connor Nicholson, Mathijs von Battenburg, James Brown, Harjeevan Grewal, Raine McCue, Jackson Perry, Bradley Racette-Wilson, Jordan Racette-Wilson, Quin Todd, Derek Watts, Aidan Metz, Kyron Gilchrist-Heath, Jasper Henigman, Noah Janssen, Matt Kral, Lyle Lindsay, Michael Martin and Liam Minor.
Claiming the fourth-place pennant was the bantam boys’ team from Fairview, coached by Gregg Halfyard. On the gridiron for their school were players Balrajan Minhas, Spencer Dunn, Anthony Comas, Landon Van Domselaar, Tristian Charpentier, Satnam Parmar, Clayton Henessey, Ezra Hutzler, Khang Huyhn and Derek Houghton.
A separate league was organized for teams from larger schools with a total population of more than 275 students. In the playoffs, Rock City emerged on top thanks to a 42-14 victory over Cinnabar. Claiming the first-place pennant were players Iskander Zhaksbek, Dion Dennis-Martin, Aiello Hall, Dawson Heathcote, Declan Klein, Ryder Jenks, Dakota Callum, Cameron Holman, Drew Johnson, Nolan Oster, Cody MacArthur and coach Mike Ireland.
Annette Noble provided the coaching for the second-place Cinnabar Valley squad. Players from that school were Brooks Branchi, Jayden Duns, Clayton White, Jakob Sutton, Zach Blanchard, Cohen Inglis, Trey Morrison, Cody McVie, Dominic Boar, Luke Schlitz, Chayton Henriques, Colby Day, Kyan Leduc and Devon Scott.
Hammond Bay took third place in the district playoffs for large schools. Team members from that school were Matthew Coburn, Jackson Dean, Jacob Erickson, Liam Foster, Elijah Kellam, Brandon Kossey, Jaden Little, Liam Manney and Mattias Stochmal. Coach for the boys was Terry Kellam, with Francine John the team sponsor.
In fourth place came the Georgia Avenue football team coached by Jeff Buck, consisting of players Ayden Walkosky, Juan Rubiano, Josh Parkin, Sebastien Guillemette, Antonio Mitchell, Karan Janjua and Jason Pindar.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
Ian Thorpe writes about sports Saturdays.