www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, November 14, 2014 | 30 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Bridesmaids no longer Holy Trinity rst Oakville school to win Halton senior Tier 1 football title by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor T here's one thing that Nathan Rourke's rep football teammates, the Burlington Stampeders, can't hold over him and other Oakville residents anymore. "Oakville football never gets the glory that the Burlington schools get," Rourke said. "There's de nitely some resentment towards the fact that Oakville doesn't get that much respect." Rourke and the Holy Trinity Titans changed that in a big way yesterday at Hamilton's McMaster University, becoming the rst Oakville high school to win a Halton senior Tier 1 football championship since the league went to a tiered system in 1998. The Titans scored on their rst play from scrimmage and later scored ve consecutive touchdowns on their way to a decisive 42-28 victory over the defending Halton champions, Burlington's Assumption Crusaders. In top photo, the Holy Trinity Titans gather around the Halton senior football Tier 1 trophy after becoming the rst Oakville school to win the title since tiering began in 1998. In bottom photo, Trinity's Matt Creelman takes on Assumption defender Josh Van Nieuwkoop. | photos by Jayson Mills -- Special to the Beaver Assumption Holy Trinity 1 7 7 2 7 28 3 0 7 4 14 0 F 28 42 Trinity (8-0) will host the Hamilton Catholic nalist next week with a chance to qualify for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Football Festival later this month at McMaster. The Crusaders also have an opportunity to advance to the tournament, but will need to defeat the Hamilton Catholic champions. "We're so proud of these boys and how hard they fought," said long-time Titans coach Joe Moscato, who guided Trinity teams to the Tier 1 nal in 2009 and 2010 but couldn't quite get over the big Burlington hump. "We kept plugging away (over the years). Football's football, no matter where you're from. You keep working hard, you put in your systems, your players have good off-seasons and hopefully work out and come in ready to play the season, and you need a whole lot of luck." Cold temperatures and a light sprinking of snow did nothing to slow down the Titans' aerial attack, which lit up opposing defences to the tune of nearly Football's football, no matter where you're from. 45 points per game during the regular season. Rourke, the Titans star quarterback, threw touchdown passes of 70-plus yards to Tevin Doyley, Will Ellis and Matt Creelman in the rst half. "We made three bad mental errors in our secondary. It was a breakdown of assignments, and with a kid like (Rourke), you cannot break down," said Crusaders coach Ivan Yurgan. "He's a great athlete and my hat's off to him. But it's tough because when you beat yourself mentally and make mistakes, it's worse than getting whupped physically." Jason Uleryk-Carvalho added a pair of short TD runs and Rourke scrambled 30 yards for another major. Graham Maskins was good on ve of six converts and Trinity scored a rouge off a kickoff for its other scoring. Assumption running back Jordan Lyons, who was the MVP in Canada's victory over the United States in the Under-17 International Bowl earlier this year, scored the Crusaders' rst touchdown on a one-yard run to tie the game 7-7 after Doyley had made a 73-yard TD reception on Trinity's opening snap. Adam Van Kooten put Assumption ahead with a one-yard quarterback sneak early in the second quarter, before Trinity turned the tide. Ellis got behind the Assumption secondary for a 75-yard catch to tie the game with 9:04 left in the rst half. The Titans then seized control with three majors in less than four minutes. Rourke somehow avoided a nearcertain sack to weave 30 yards for a TD, Creelman hauled in a 75-yard touchdown pass and Joe Moscato Titans head coach Uleryk-Carvalho ran virtually untouched from a yard out for the last score of the half. Reggie Haycinthe recovered a fumble on Assumption's opening drive of the second half, and the Titans quickly marched 38 yards for another touchdown, this one coming on a three-yard run by Uleryk-Carvalho. "It was awesome," Uleryk-Carvalho said of scoring two touchdowns in such a meaningful game. "The offensive line, I can't do it without them. And Rourke and the wide receivers set it all up. I was the hammer on the nail." The Crusaders might have put a brief scare into Trinity in the nal ve minutes, scoring twice in a 90-second span. Van Kooten ran for his second touchdown of the game, the Crusaders recovered an onside kick and Dominic Mandalno hauled in a 32-yard TD pass from Van Kooten to make the score 42-28. Uleryk-Carvalho snuffed out the Assumption rally, however, by recovering another Crusaders onside kick attempt. "I just wanted to get that ball and hold it," he said, "and give our offence a chance to clean it up."