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Halton Hills showdown Rebels, Jags to meet at Ivor Wynne EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer After dropping their regular-season meeting to the Georgetown Rebels 15-6 back in September, dejected players from the Christ the King Jaguars promised as they walked off the GDHS field that there would be a return matchup, perhaps even for the Halton-area championship held at Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium. The 6-1 Jags came through at their end, grinding out a 20-7 win at St. Thomas Aquinas in Oakville on Wednesday in one of the Halton Secondary School Athletic Association Division II senior football semifinal games. At the same time, undefeated Georgetown was overcaming a 21-14 half-time deficit to knock off defending-champion Burlington Central 35-21. Through the marvel of the cell phone, Rebel players were already aware of next Wednesday's opponent before the final whistle in their hard-fought contest had sounded in front of about 300 spectators in Georgetown. It's the first trip to the Halton final for the Rebels since the mid-1970s and the Jaguars have never made it in that school's relatively short history. "Christ the King is who we wanted to play all along and to have both Georgetown schools in the Halton final is amazing," said Rebels' star running back John Leckie, who rushed for three touchdowns and gained close to 200 yards on the afternoon. "So now after a few years of some bad football around here, we're moving up in the world." Both Leckie and Christ the King coach Mike Harris agreed that the reason for the emergence of the local high school programs comes thanks to the summer-long development youth teams established by the Ontario Minor Football League's Halton Hills Wildcats. Several players from CtK and GDHS were teammates on the Wildcat squad that captured the Ontario Minor Football League's varsity division title in August, and in each of Wednesday's semi-final wins, endurance and experience prevailed, despite muddy and slippery conditions. "A lot of our players were with the Wildcats during the summer and that's why Burlington teams have been so strong over the years, because they have that club system in place," said Harris. "We also had some players who hadn't played before, so when we lost to Georgetown during the season, that was only their second game. Now we've got seven or eight games of experience under our belts and we're looking forward to a good, tough game against Georgetown." See ALL-GEORGETOWN, pg. 27 The Georgetown Rebels didn't allow Burlington Central to get any points in the second half of their Halton semi-final senior football game at home on Wednesday, with a smothering defence stomping out any Trojan comeback attempts. Georgetwon won 35-21 and will face cross-town rival Christ the King in the Halton final. Photo by Eamonn Maher Racer Collier competes in Georgia and Toronto... all on the same weekend EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer Longtime Norval resident Sue Collier made a last-minute change of plans in order to compete in two prestigious North American barrel-racing events this past weekend and said Monday that making the non-stop overnight drive from Augusta, Georgia to Toronto was well worth it. Collier competed in the National Barrel Horse Association World Championships near Atlanta last week with her two rides, Roll out the Money and QT Poco Vittoro, making the grand finals with both. Because the NBHA Finals were scheduled to end just before 10 p.m. Saturday, Collier had decided before the competition that even if she and her horses were among the few out of the hundreds of entries to make the championship round, she would have to withdraw Saturday morning in See COLLIER, pg. 26 Christ the King defender Alex Desmond (right) and teammate Elliot Montag (55) helped limit the host St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders to just a touchdown in the Jags' rousing 20-7 triumph on Wednesday in the HSSAA senior football semi-finals, setting up a much-anticipated championship with Georgetown on Wednesday in Hamilton. Photo by Liesa Kortmann