Upstart Jaguars look to upset unbeaten Vikings and earn spot in Ontario championship; sport kicks off at 2 p.m. at Maple Ridge
A transparent favorite and a Cinderella squad conflict this afternoon for the Georgian Bay Secondary Faculty Affiliation (GBSSA) senior soccer title when the Barrie North Vikings tackle the St. Joseph’s Jaguars on the glowing, windswept turf subject at Maple Ridge Secondary Faculty within the metropolis’s south finish.
Kick-off is at 2 p.m. on the Prince William Means college.
The Vikings earned their spot within the remaining by defeating the Bear Creek Kodiaks, 23-0, final week on the identical impartial web site at Maple Ridge to win the Simcoe County Athletics Affiliation (SCAA) title.
Throughout city, the Jaguars ended the St. Joan of Arc (JOA) Knights’ run atop the Catholic Faculty Athletics of Simcoe County (CSASC) league with an exciting 21-14 victory beneath the lights at J.C. Massie Area on the campus of Georgian Faculty.
One crew has been barely examined this yr, the opposite has needed to scratch and claw its strategy to get right here.
“It’s not just beating JOA. We’ve had other close games that have helped us (compete),” mentioned Jaguars head coach Erik Scott.
Barrie North head coach Burke Erwin was taking nothing as a right.
“(They are) well coached and they have tremendous athletes,” mentioned Erwin. “We respect our opponent.”
The Jaguars are an attention-grabbing crew in a number of methods. They’ve a number of particular person standouts — Logan Forsyth, Joseph Chuich. Liam Walton — however are extra a gentle, no-frills group to the bare eye. By that measure, Erwin’s evaluation is bang on.
The Jags suffered a 35-10 loss to the Knights early within the season and got here again to twice beat the defending Catholic champs.
Final Friday’s win was significantly spectacular, shaking off two lengthy TD runs by Knights game-breaker Judah Davis that created a white-knuckle end. The Jags bought a number of essential stops within the sport’s waning moments to protect the victory.
Frankly, it was a formidable, inspiring effort that might have appeared distant six weeks in the past.
Not each sport the unbeaten Vikings have performed this yr was a blowout, however North was by no means at risk of shedding. The defending SCAA champion Kodiaks had a down yr and conventional energy Collingwood by no means discovered its rhythm. As proven of their rampage by way of the SCAA regular-season schedule and playoffs, North merely might have an excessive amount of firepower.
However it’s laborious to think about St. Joe’s rolling over or shedding their cool in the event that they fall behind. Not that Scott needs his crew to be in that place.
“It’s always better to play with the lead,” Scott mentioned throughout a phone dialog as he ready for apply in, critically, maybe, excessive winds.
The Maple Ridge subject is a terrific venue – save for the snazzy scoreboard that doesn’t work – however, in Scott’s phrases, it is a “little bit of a wind tunnel.”
Highschool soccer has been outlined this season by heat, nearly wall-to-wall sunshine all through the common season and first week of the playoffs. It is now mid-November and whereas the temperature must be effective, it’s anticipated to be windy. Once more. That typically means the crew that runs the ball finest – and/or makes stops on defence – has a transparent benefit.
Look ahead to Barrie North backs Christian Giguere and Dylan Lathanque to hold the ball lots. Ryan Minns is reliable kicking the pigskin, critically essential in wind. There are a slew of huge fellas in inexperienced on each of the Vikings’ traces to carve out paths for Giguere and others and make for a protracted afternoon for these making an attempt to do the identical on the opposition.
However the St. Joe’s offence has completed what it has wanted to do to get right here. Scott mentioned scoring a late first-half TD final Friday evening to tie the sport on the half was significantly essential.
However St. Joe’s QB Walton, Forsyth, Chuich and Co., can have a completely totally different beast to deal with in the present day once they have the ball.
North’s defence is coached by Kelly Wiltshire, the two-time Gray Cup champion and two-time CFL all-star. Having somebody of that background patrol the sidelines at the highschool degree speaks for itself.
Erwin has been effusive in his reward for your entire Barrie North teaching workers and Wiltshire, who moved to the world to work for the Ontario Provincial Police in Orillia.
“The intangibles of having him — a champion, a former pro — is difficult to explain,” mentioned Erwin. “He’s probably the (biggest) reason why we’re here.”
The winner of in the present day’s sport will compete within the provincial championship Nov. 25-27 in Windsor.
