The future looks great for Samuel Robertson Technical football, as the team won its second Grade 8 championship in the last three years.
The SRT Titans Grade 8 football team won the provincial double A championship 48-26 over the Seaquam Seahawks on Tuesday afternoon, led by Joel McCormick, with six touchdowns.
The gamebreaker had four rushing majors, another by reception, and also found the end zone on a kickoff return. Add in a pair of two-point conversions, and McCormick had 40 points all by himself.
“Joel McCormick had a monster game. It was his time to shine,” said coach Mike Jones.
There have been different game stars at various points of the season, but it was the biggest individual effort of the year.
But Jones said the whole team contributed to the championship effort. Mason Hebert played some tailback and had some great runs and a touchdown. As a fullback, he blocked for McCormick’s big runs. Brayden Balatti was a third running back option, and the trio helped keep each other fresh throughout the game.
Quarterback Adam Jones threw the touchdown pass, a two-point pass, and also caught a two-point reception from Kayle Cowley.
Receiver Billy Williamson had key receptions, forcing the Seahawks defence to respect the pass.
Defensive lineman Evan Kitchener was “very disruptive” to the Seaquam offence, and Keanyn Hamilton played “cleanup” linebacker.
“He turned what could have been long runs into short ones.”
Centre Linden Peel had great exchanges and ball security with the quarterbacks, as opposed to Seaquam, which fumbled away opportunities.
The Titans trailed the game 18-6 early, and were still down 18-14 at half-time.
Playing a bigger team that plays a physical game, the Titan strategy was to run a no-huddle offence, and try to tire their opponents out. By subbing players in and out, the Titans coaching staff tried to keep their guys fresh.
“Seaquam has some big guys, and we just thought we might be able to out-run them,” said Jones. “We kept them going.”
He said a no-huddle offence is ambitious at the Grade 8 level, but they have been working on it in practice for weeks.
“We hadn’t pulled it out until we needed it,” he said. “It didn’t let them rest, or sit and analyze, or communicate.”
His son and quarterback, Adam Jones, helped keep it rolling, calling audibles on the field like a young Peyton Manning.
Similarly, he said Cowley called much of the defence on his own, reacting to what he saw on the field.
“It was really great to see them all come together,” said Jones. “The whole is better than the sum of its parts, and that’s a cool lesson to learn.”
• In junior football, the Titans made it to the final four, but were eliminated by Nanaimo in a close semi-final 20-14 on Nov. 24.