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Sports Oakville Beaver www.orlandoinfo.com/canada 800-551-2006 31 SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2006 Pretty in pink Iroquois Ridge and Loyola's junior football game promotes breast cancer awareness By Herb Garbutt F LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Members of the Iroquois Ridge (in blue helmets) and Loyola Hawks junior football teams donned pink socks for their game Tuesday at Iroquois Ridge, wrapping up Ridge's breast cancer awareness month campaign. Loyola won the game 32-12 as Steve Forster and Chris Hong each scored a pair of touchdowns. Local teams bounced from Div. 1 playoffs After a successful regular season for the Holy Trinity Titans, the playoffs demonstrated why the jump to Division 1 senior football is so difficult. Despite having home field advantage, the Titans were blanked 28-0 by the Notre Dame Fightin' Irish in Thursday's Halton quarter-final. "A tough way to lose and to see your seniors go out but overall we beat Loyola, a long-time rival we'd never beaten before, and we beat a Burlington school (Robert Bateman), which I don't know how many times that's happened with an Oakville school in Division 1," said Trinity coach Branko Culina. "We've had some success but we've also had the opposite side of success, defeat, and today is one of those." After a year playing Division 2, the Titans had a promising return to Division 1, downing T.A. Blakelock 21-0 in their season opener. However, the team lost several players throughout the year and finished the season with just 26 players. They struggled to click offensively afterward but that didn't prevent Trinity from compiling some highlights along the way, including a 6-0 victory over Bateman in its second-last game of the season. While scoring points proved to be a challenge, HIGH SCHOOLFOOTBALL the Titans were much better at preventing them. "Defence was there," Culina said. "The games we were in this year were the games the defence played well." Thursday's game threatened to get out of hand when the Titans turned over the ball the first three times they touched it in the second half - a fumbled punt, an interception and a fumble. But the defence held the Irish, even when Notre Dame recovered a fumble at the Trinity 12. Oakville's other two Division 1 teams also had a rough time in the quarter-finals. Nelson, one of the top-rated teams in the GTA, defeated Blakelock 566 while Assumption downed Loyola 27-1. Aquinas advances in Division 2 In Division 2 playoff games this past week, St. Thomas Aquinas defeated White Oaks 43-6 to advance to the semifinals. The Raiders will meet Georgetown's Christ the King Jaguars, who topped Abbey Park 30-10. Aquinas will host that game Wednesday at 2 p.m. See Junior page 32 the football and volleyball teams wearing pink socks for Tuesday's games; family studies, making pink cookies and ootball is a sport in which tough- cupcakes; the art department, painting ness is valued. Each play begins huge pink ribbons on the field. ten players launching themselves "It's been an awesome display," said into one another, helmets cracking, vice-principal Kevin Caughlin, who shoulder pads popping as they connect watched the game from the sidelines with their opponent. It's a game where wearing a pink slip, scarf and one of the intimidation can give you that slight T-shirts the school has been selling edge you need to beat your opponent. throughout the month. "Everybody's Which is why if you showed up at been finding whatever they can (to Iroquois Ridge High School for Tuesday's wear) to support the cause." Halton junior football game Anstett said the busi"(My mom) would between the Trailblazers ness class did a project on a and Loyola Hawks, you be glad that we're smaller scale two years might have done a double doing it for a ago, inspired by Lance take. Armstrong's Live Strong good cause." That linebacker, the guy campaign. Grade 10 busiwhose job it is to fight his Ridge player ness student Nupur Dogra way past his opponents in Kumail Sayeed said the class has been order to inflict pain on the doing daily announcequarterback? Yes, he was wearing pink ments, letting them know what events socks. are happening as well as informing them But so was the quarterback, and the of some of the frightening statistics of lineman, and the safety, and the run- breast cancer. Twenty-two thousand ning back who carried the ball down the Canadian women will be diagnosed this pink-lined field. Heck, even the referees year and 5,300 will die from the disease. were wearing pink socks. "It never occurred to me that it would It was all a conclusion of Iroquois be anything but a great success," Anstett Ridge's school-wide breast cancer aware- said. "The students' ability to just run ness month campaign in October, spear- with these sorts of things is incredible." headed by Grade 10 business students. While the campaign's main purpose "One in nine women are diagnosed was to raise awareness, it has also raised with breast cancer so, directly or indi- more than $3,500. The money has been rectly, it affects everyone," said business raised through bake sales as well as the teacher Lynda Anstett. "So we tried to sales of pink fleece scarves, mittens and include everyone in ways that everyone T-shirts that say Ridge, with the I could be a part of it." replaced by a pink ribbon. One player on Ridge's football team "They've had some great ideas," said is all too aware of the effects of breast teacher Marie Guest, who donned a long cancer. Kumail Sayeed lost his mother pink wig. "Even getting the other team to breast cancer earlier this year. involved today. They're not being insuUnfortunately, it wasn't his family's first lar. They're getting it out into the comexposure to the disease. munity." "A few years ago, my aunt had passed Ridge coach Mike Luyks asked his away (from breast cancer) so we had Loyola counterpart about joining them already experienced it," he said. "It felt in the pink theme. good to do something to help raise "When I told the guys, it was a bit of awareness. (My mom) would be glad a shock -- pink socks?," said Hawks that we're doing it for a good cause." coach Vince Riviglia. "But they quickly Anstett said every department in the understood and embraced it because school has been involved: phys ed, with they know how worthwhile a cause it is." OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF