One of two titles comes home to Sisler

The final day of the high-school football season was bittersweet for the Sisler High School football program, as one team left Canad Inns Stadium with a trophy while the other squad was simply left wondering what could have been.

The tripleheader of championship games began Monday afternoon with Sisler 2 making a few more big plays than the Murdoch MacKay Clansmen to win the Currie Division’s Centennial Bowl.

The 23-7 victory put the finishing touches on an undefeated season for the Spartans squad, which was led by quarterback Jason Vandel’s pair of touchdown runs.

The Grade 10 student – who had last year’s semifinal loss in the back of his mind – credited his defence, which came up with four interceptions.

“Our defence kept us in it,” he said amid a boisterous celebration.

“We had a special group of guys. Everyone in their position played to the best of their ability.”

Diminutive defensive back Ryan Cruz had two of the interceptions, both coming with the Clansmen appearing poised to score.

He said the Spartans’ game plan made it easy for himself and the rest of the all-rookie secondary to succeed.

“The coaches are awesome. They gave us everything, especially this week. They helped us prepare for this game perfectly. It was awesome,” said Cruz.

Defensive co-ordinator David DeGrave said it was the best he’d seen Cruz play.

“We were a little bit worried because of his size that he might be exploited by taller receivers, but he came up really big,” DeGrave said.

The season started with modest goals for Sisler 2, but the wins started piling up and the coaches and players wanted to see just how much potential the team had.

“We definitely didn’t have expectations of going undefeated,” said DeGrave. “We set a deep playoff run as a goal for our team, but with the growth that these kids showed (early in the season) expectations started creeping up.”

The school had a chance to grab a second trophy in the Potter Division’s ANAVETS Bowl Monday night, but Sisler 1 fell 29-19 to Oak Park in a hard-hitting affair.

The Spartans started strong, building a 13-0 lead in the second quarter on the strength of a Michael Dawes touchdown and a pair of Michael Cocozza field goals. But the Raiders answered with a flurry of big plays, including three interceptions, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt.

It marked the third straight season that the Spartans lost in the ANAVETS Bowl. Looking ahead to next year, as many as 16 players from the championship Sisler 2 squad could make the jump to the No. 1 team to replace departing Grade 12 students.