Cougars advance to Tier 2 football final
It wasn’t perfect but the Centennial Cougars football team is off to the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 2 championship game following a 33-0 shutout victory over the Thorold Golden Eagles Friday in semifinal action.
“It wasn’t necessarily the way we wanted to do it,” Centennial head coach Dom Nero said. “We had a lot of mistakes in the second and third quarters and a lot of penalties that got us out of our rhythm.”
Centennial last played in a championship four years ago against Churchill and the school’s last championship victory was more than 20 years ago.
“We are going back a long time so hopefully we can get it done,” Nero said.
One of the players who will be key to getting it done is Garvan Leavans. Against Thorold, Leavans had a 45-yard TD run, an interception and a sack that caused a turnover on downs.
“He sort of does a little bit of everything for us,” Nero said. “He’s a big hitter, probably the biggest hitter we have on the team, and you can always rely on him wherever you need him on the field.
“It’s really important to have a guy like that.”
The 16-year-old is the much smaller cousin of teammate Tommy Leavens, who weighs 230 pounds and plays on both the offensive and defensive lines.
“It (my size) is from my mom’s side of the family and I kind of got screwed, but that’s OK,” Garvan said, with a laugh.
He uses his size as motivation.
“If you are the smallest guy on the field, you have to be everywhere and be the best at everything you can,” the Grade 12 student said.
He has a simple explanation for his reputation as a hard hitter.
“It’s my low centre of gravity and I hit the gym a bit too,” he said. “I love the contact because you can’t do it anywhere else.”
Leavens has no plans on coming back for his 12B year and would love to leave with a championship.
“The school hasn’t had one in quite a while and that would be nice,” he said.
With the loss, the Golden Eagles saw their title defence end with more of a whimper than a roar.
Thorold head coach Duane Kemp felt the game was lost long before the first snap Friday afternoon.
“We didn’t come mentally ready and today’s game was a Monday to Thursday problem and not a Friday game problem,” he said. “We didn’t have good practices most of the year and it was evident.”
Thorold lost a lot of players to graduation, including starters on offence, but that wasn’t why a title defence wasn’t in the cards.
“If you don’t work hard in practice, it’s going to show up on the field and that’s what happened today,” Kemp said. “We didn’t get the reps we needed in practice and we’re not getting the attendance in practice and it showed today.
“I feel bad for Yvan Canlas and Andrew Dailey — two guys who have played their butts off for us — to kind go out like this today.”
In honour of Dailey’s play, Thorold called a timeout and let Dailey run the ball on the last play of the game.
“We knew it was going to be a rebuilding year, but we have to be a little more focused and a little more dedicated,” Kemp said.
STATS PACK
Cougars 33 Golden Eagles 0
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s/Cracker Jacks Player of the Game: Centennial’s Garvan Leavens with a 45-yard TD run, interception and a sack that set up Centennial’s final major.
For the Centennial Cougars: Leavans, TD, sack and pick; 25-yard TD pass from Josh Boyle to Robbie Pereira; 25-yard TD pass from Ethan Robertson to Robbie Pereira; 17-yard TD run by Eli Taylor; and, sack by Tommy Leavans.
For the Thorold Golden Eagles: Fumble recoveries by Andrew Dailey and Matt York.
Up next: Centennial plays Grimsby in the NRHSAA Tier 2 final next week.
