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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, November 25, 2011 · 40 Iroquois Ridge rolls to senior football title Trailblazers beat OT 43-0 in Tier 3 championship By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF When Iroquois Ridge coach Mike Luyks found out his team was playing Oakville Trafalgar, he knew what his team had to do. "Our game plan was built around No. 7 (Albert Opoku) and No. 36 (Daniel Stephenson). Those are the two guys we focused on," he said. "And it wasn't how we were going to stop them, it was just trying to contain them." Oakville Trafalgar came into Wednesday's Halton senior boys Tier 3 final having won six straight games since a close season-opening 18-14 loss to Iroquois Ridge. But by halftime, the Trailblazers' game plan was irrelevant. The injury bug had done what other teams had struggled to do, taking both OT quarterback Opoku (dislocated shoulder) and fullback Stephenson (a serious ankle injury) out of the game. Already facing a 14-0 deficit when Stephenson left the field in an ambulance with 2:39 to play in the opening half, Iroquois Ridge scored two more touchdowns before halftime -- both by Andrew Ziebart. The Trailblazers continued to roll in the second half on their way to a convincing 43-0 victory to capture their first football championship in 10 years. Iroquois Ridge can relate to the loss of a key player. It's lone loss this season -- 28-6 to Burlington Central in late October -- came with quarterback Mike Malo on the sidelines with perhaps the strangest of football injuries. Malo was feeling nauseous and suffering from headaches after the Trailblazers' game against St. Thomas Aquinas, though he didn't remember taking a hit that would have caused the concussion-like symptoms. Erring on the side of caution, Malo stayed on the sidelines against the Trojans the following week. Malo is now convinced the symptoms were not the result of a concussion. Instead, he is certain it was from the dye he used to colour his hair pink in a show of support for the team's breast cancer awareness game. "I'll never do that again," he said. Back in the lineup, Malo helped avenge the loss to Central with a 23-17 overtime victory in last week's semifinal and Wednesday was 5-for-8 for 114 yards with two touchdown passes and ran for 145 yards and another major. He also ran in a two-point convert, kicked two converts and picked up a single on a missed 39-yard field goal. "He's one of the best players I've ever coached or played with," Luyks said. "It was his time to shine and he looked good out there." Even with Malo's performance the lopsided score still surprised the Trailblazers' coach. "I'm stunned," Luyks said afterward. "We were expecting it to go right down to the wire. It was an awesome team effort. We stressed to everyone `do your job' and everyone came through." After Malo threw first-quarter touchdowns to Ethan Roy (19 yards) and Brady Bachan (22 yards), Oakville Trafalgar finally seemed to be gaining some traction late in ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Iroquois Ridge receiver Brady Bachan slips past OT's Yohance Harrison to haul in a touchdown pass in the opening quarter of Wednesday's Halton senior boys' Tier 3 football final. Malo (left) threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in the Trailblazers' 43-0 victory. the half. The Red Devils moved the ball down to the Ridge 11-yard line with 2:39 to play but two plays later, Stephenson was hurt causing a half-hour delay. On the first play after the game resumed, OT fumbled and Ziebart recovered for the Trailblazers. Sixty-four seconds and 86 yards later, Ziebart ran the ball in from five yards out to make it 21-0. "That took away any momentum we had," said OT coach Guy D'Alesio, whose team beat Pearson in last year's title game to cap an undefeated season. "It was hard to get anything started after that. We got down, we lost one of our top players and you have the delay. But the guys kept trying." After OT turned the ball over on downs on their own 40, the Trailblazers needed just two plays -- a 33-yard pass to Brodie Brandt and a seven-yard run by Ziebart -- to find the end zone again, extending the lead to 28-0. "That was the biggest momentum swing," said Malo, who ran for a touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter. "After that, we knew we were going to win." Ben Callaghan capped the scoring midway through the final quarter with a one-yard touchdown run, set up by Arnab Bose's interception. Meanwhile, the Ridge defence continued to dominate, limiting the league's highest scoring team to just one first down in the second half. --Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter at @herbgarbutt Bantam Hornets perfect three-for-three with Rochester triumph Three tournaments entered, three tournament championships so far for the Oakville bantam AA (Merrick) Hornets. The Hornets' latest gold medal came at the Bauer International Invite in Rochester, N.Y., where Oakville went 2-1 in the qualifying round and then won all three of its playoff contests. The Hornets locked up the gold with a 2-1 victory over the Saugeen-Maitland Lightning in the final. Highlights from the tournament included Jacinta Kennedy's winning goal in a 2-1 overtime victory over Etobicoke in the quarter-finals, and the MVP performance of Taylor McMahon in the final. Oakville's goaltending duo of Kaitlyn Simpson and Sarah McDonnell combined to allow just two goals in the Hornets' three playoff games. "The Bauer International is an exceedingly difficult tournament to win. There were 24 of the very best girls' hockey teams from Canada and the United States participating, and they all showed up determined to win," said Hornets coach Lou Merrick. "Each and every player stepped up and contributed to this championship by supporting each other from start to finish." Oakville defeated the Whitby Wolves 5-3 and St. Louis Lady Blues 3-1 in qualifying before dropping a 2-0 decision to the Ottawa Lady Senators. The Hornets followed up their quarter-final win over Etobicoke with a 2-0 shutout of the Leaside Wildcats in the semis. Also contributing to the Hornets' third tournament win were Nicole Collier, Jamie Watson, Mackenzie Stamper, Rhiannon Ford, Laura Crowdis, Jessy Geddes, Charlee Grace, Jessica Desautels, Sarah Hine, Cassidy MacPherson, Claire Merrick, Emily Schnarr and Mackenzie Sutherland. Andy Geddes, John Kennedy and Chris Stamper also coach the team, Heidi Grace and Barb McMahon are the trainers, and Paula Schnarr is the team manager. PWHL Hornets face London Saturday The Oakville Hornets will look to move ahead of London in the Provincial Women's Hockey League standings this weekend. Oakville (4-6-0) trails London (4-5-1) by one point heading into Saturday's game against the Devilettes at Joshua's Creek Arenas. Game time is 4:30 p.m. Oakville plays in Waterloo Sunday.