Myer captures fourth OFSAA Bowl
With a 38-21 victory Tuesday over Ursuline College in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ Central Bowl, the A.N. Myer Marauders senior football team is now the most successful OFSAA Bowl team in Niagara history.
Myer had won previous OFSAA Bowls in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and was tied with Lakeshore Catholic, which captured OFSAA Bowls in 2003, 2008 and 2012.
“We know what we had before with the (Tre and Tyrell) Ford group and we wondered would we ever get back there? But there is still a lot of hard work being done, the structure of the program is good and these kids are good too,” Myer head coach Dave Buchanan said. “I think it was satisfying for them.”
A few people have mentioned to Buchanan about the school now being tops in Niagara in OFSAA Bowl triumphs but he isn’t counting and has no plan to start.
“We didn’t have a good program when I first got here and I wasn’t doing a good enough job. The focus was intense and there was a lot of pressure and I’ve tried in the last few years to recognize and enjoy the process more and more and I stress that to the kids; enjoy high school football.”
The program’s mission isn’t to have more OFSAA Bowls or championships than anyone else but rather to win each day and win the process.
“It sounds corny but it is true. The wins will come and it took me awhile to wrap my head around that. I wasn’t enjoying the process. It became a competition with other schools and it got to the point when we had a loss — and we had them — it became devastating and I was looking in the mirror and thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ ” It was crazy and my wife would remind me too. She is a lot smarter than I am.”
The key ingredient for this year’s squad was grit.
“Ultimately we won the war in the trenches. We had support everywhere but that was our heart and soul,” he said. “We have always been known as a team that throws well but there were times that that wasn’t working for us and in the past that would have been a major problem. But the grit of our team and our defensive grit allowed us to stay in games and they stepped up many times. Eventually the O line would take control and allow us to take over games.”
The Marauders seemed to get better each game as the stakes got higher and higher.
“We got that answered early when we went to the jamborees and played some really strong teams. I saw the level come up when we played them,” Buchanan said. “They answered the bell every time. Everyone always worries that we would lose but there was a faith in each other. They had that and they described it to me. We weren’t panicking because we had faith in each other.”
In the victory over Ursuline: quarterback Thomas Somerville had rushing majors of two, three and five yards and tossed a 75-yard TD pass to Travis Boland; Dante Damario recorded a 22-yard Pick 6 and many big tackles; Johnny Colcuc hit a clutch 30-yard field goal; Evan Goforth had a forced fumble and interception; and, Fran Della Valentina dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
“We felt like we were allowing them to stay in the game but again it is high school football and we are not perfect,” Buchanan said. “We felt like we were in control of the game but we had a couple of mistakes here and there. We allowed them to stay in the game. They were competitive and their skill players were as good or better than any team that we faced this year. But we were controlling the line of scrimmage and moving the ball well.”
The key sequence came with Myer leading 21-14 and Ursuline College was driving for the tying score. Goforth stripped a ball and recovered the fumble to set up Colcuc’s field goal.
“After that, we felt OK. From that point on, there were moments and first downs and things like that, but those moments were really big.”
Myer has no plans to rest on its laurels and believes it will be force to be reckoned with again next season.
“We are in really good shape. We have a good portion of the line back and we had kids who were young and impactful in key positions. We will have some 12Bs but we graduate some key players.”
Among those lost to graduation are Goforth, Damario and D’Angelo Holness.
“Those are players who did so much for us but I do believe there are kids ready to step up and our core is strong,” he said.
Buchanan is not sure if Somerville is back at quarterback but waiting in the wings is Noah Walters. The team has total faith in him.
“We will have good support from our junior program because Jamie French has done a really good job with them.”
Buchanan expects Notre Dame and Westmount to be strong again but he is not overlooking the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 1 loop.
“I think people underestimate our league but if we play well we should be fine.”
