The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

24 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, October 28, 2010 SPORTS & LEISURE By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer It's been a roller-coaster-type regular season for Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks and three Georgetown residents have been along for the ride, with the Ontario university football playoffs set to kick off this Saturday. Laurier will host the Guelph Gryphons in a quarterfinal matchup of 4-4 teams on national television, as the Golden Hawks earned the fourth seed in the province by winning their last two games in dominating fashion, entering the post-season with a high-powered offence and one of the best defences in the country. Georgetown District High School graduates Spencer Troop and Donnie McKenzie are fourth-year starters for the Hawks and there was plenty of optimism during the summer about the team's ranking of sixth in the CIS after picking up several Waterloo Warriors-- including Christ the King product, defensive tackle Steve Ples-- who didn't have a place to play when their program was suspended over a steroid scandal. But the Hawks' season began with a stunning 46-1 loss to the ninthranked Western Mustangs and a 26-24 defeat against McMaster in which Laurier blew a 22-point lead, followed by the forfeiture of a win over Toronto when the OUA determined that an ineligible player had been used. Troop, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman and long-snapper with aspirations of playing in the Three teams and three individual runners from Halton Hills have qualified for next week's Ontario high school cross-country championships thanks to their results at Tuesday's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference meet at Hamilton's Christie Lake Conservation Area. The Georgetown Rebels won the 6-km junior boys' team competition while also finishing runner-up in both the junior girls' and midget boys' races, qualifying the top four runners CFL, said the Golden Hawks feel like the dark horse heading into the playoffs with a clean slate in the win-loss column. Laurier welcomes clean slate 315-pound McKenzie will likely return for a fifth year at Laurier, but the economics major is eligible for the CFL Draft and will attend an evaluation camp during the off-season to determine his pro prospects. But first priority is Guelph on Saturday and then perhaps a semifinal rematch with the top-ranked Ottawa Gee Gees, who beat the visiting Golden Hawks 44-21 on Oct. 9. "Guelph is going to be a tough game, and then we'd really like another shot at Ottawa," McKenzie said this week. "In the game we lost to them, it was a close game in the first half and then we had some mistakes on special teams with a couple of bad snaps that really hurt us. But everything is clicking for us right now and we're looking forward to a new season." Saturday's game will be broadcast on The Score TV network beginning at 1 p.m. Also on the Laurier practice squad is Acton's Joseph Cortese, a 6-foot-2, 290-pound rookie defensive lineman who graduated from Christ the King this year. Georgetown's John Leckie is in his fourth year as a running back for the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, gaining 57 yards on seven rushes in four games played in 2010. The Mustangs have a bye this weekend and will host an OUA semifinal contest Nov. 6. The 21-year-old Leckie has been to the last three Yates Cup Ontario championships with Western, making the Vanier Cup final in 2008. Dickson (13th), Lauren Brewster (17th) and Nadyia Safonova (38th) made the provincial grade. Acton's Jade Kovacevic (3rd senior girls) and Christ the King's Andrew Pundsack (4th midget boys) qualified as individuals for OFSAA. FIELD HOCKEY: Advancing farther than any previous Rebel team, Georgetown's juniors were defeated in the Halton semifinals 4-0 on Tuesday afternoon by the host Nelson Lords in Burlington. #64 DONNIE MCKENZIE #42 SPENCER TROOP #90 STEVE PLES JOSEPH CORTESE Bryan Bartle of Georgetown District High School was runner-up in the midget boys' 5-km race Tuesday in Hamilton at the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Championships and qualified for next week's provincial meet in Etobicoke. Photo by Nikki Wesley "It's a whole new ballgame now. We feel we've been concentrating on all three phases of the game really well and we're peaking at the right time," a linebacker in his high school days with the Rebels. "Our coaches keep telling us that we're probably the most dangerous team in the league right now. The offence is really rolling along well and we know we can shut anyone down on defence." Like Troop, the 6-foot-6, and an alternate for each division. Olin Flydorf (4th), Mitchell Krafczek (8th), Eric Bahen (16th) and Cory Carpenter (18th) combined to earn the GHAC junior boys' team title and a trip to Centennial Park in Etobicoke for the OFSAA finals on Saturday, Nov. 6. GDHS's Bryan Bartle (2nd), Matt Simpson (11th), Ben Wanless (14th) and Mark Vanderleest (18th) headed up the midget boys' second-place finish. For the second-place Rebel junior girls, Caitlin Watson (4th), Claire or Rebels chase down several OFSAA berths at GHAC meet PURCHASE FINANCING 0.9 UP TO 60 MONTHS ON SELECT MODELS % ¥ CASH REBATES ON OTHER SELECT MODELS UP TO $ OR 6,000 ACT NOW! www.georgetownhonda.ca Serving Georgetown for over 30 years! OFFER ENDS NOVEMBER 1ST *Low interest rates available O.A.C. Some Conditions Apply. See Dealer for Details 316 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1818 OFFERS END 905-874-3021 HONDA