www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 26, 2015 | 40 HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Webb, King's at OFSAA Abbey Park's Daniel Pritchard makes a catch as he falls backward, surrounded by Pearson's Ethan Pankamo and Aaron Patel. Pearson scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to beat Abbey Park 21-7 in Friday's Halton senior boys' Tier 3 football final. | photo by Herb Garbutt -- Oakville Beaver -- @Herbgarbutt Garth Webb Secondary School and King's Christian Collegiate are representing Oakville at provincial championship tournaments this week. Webb is competing in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations boys' volleyball AA championships in Kenora, while King's is participating in the girls' basketball AA competition in Kingsville. Both tournaments begin today (Thursday) and conclude Saturday. Sports Briefs Webb earned its OFSAA berth with a 3-1 win over Hamilton's St. Mary in last Thursday's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference AA final. The Chargers were the top AA team in the Halton league this year, going 10-2 during the regular season. Seeded 15th at OFSAA, Webb has been pooled with St. Catharines' Eden, Kingston CVI, Windsor's St. Joseph's and Mississauga's Applewood Heights. King's hammered Peel challenger Applewood 65-7 in an OFSAA qualifier last Thursday at King's. The Cavaliers won the senior Tier 1 Halton championship earlier this month, defeating Loyola 51-45, after enjoying a 7-1 regular season. King's is seeded second at OFSAA and was to face No. 11 Oshawa Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic in its first game today at 11 a.m. Blades win pair of games on late goals The Oakville Blades used some late-game theatrics to win a pair of games last weekend and improve to 9-1 in their last 10 Ontario Junior Hockey League contests. Friday, the Blades scored twice in the final 3:09 of regulation time to edge the Stouffville Spirit 4-3 at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Oakville followed that up with a 5-3 victory Sunday in Markham, when Jackson Bales scored the game-winner with 3:26 left in the third. Bryce Misley and Josh Kosack provided Oakville's other goals against Markham, each scoring twice. Kosack has now scored in 13 of 16 games since the start of October and his 21 goals ranks second in the OJHL. Misley has scored in five straight games, including the winner Friday with 1:48 left. Patrick Kudla, Tyler Rollo and Christian Rajic also tallied for the Blades Friday. Michael Botiz earned the goaltending victory versus Stouffville, and Brendan McGlynn was the winning netminder Sunday. The Blades (16-8-1-1) enter this weekend's action tied with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens for first place in the OJHL 's South Division. Oakville will be home to the Toronto Patriots tomorrow (Friday, 7:30 p.m at Sixteen Mile). Fans who bring a stuffed animal will be admitted free as the team supports the Oakville Fire Department's annual toy drive with a teddy bear toss. For more info, visit bit.ly/1MRhTai. Hornets post tie, loss in PWHL action Last weekend was a rare winless one for the Oakville Hornets, who posted a tie and a loss in their two Provincial Women's Hockey League games. Oakville was blanked 2-0 Friday in Burlington by the host Barracudas, then skated to a 1-1 tie with the Stoney Creek Sabres Saturday in Stoney Creek. Meaghan Hector scored the Hornets' lone goal of the weekend, tying Saturday's game in the third period. The Hornets (9-3-1-1) were to visit Leaside last night (Wednesday) and will be in Aurora Saturday. Undermanned Eagles can't overcome injuries in Tier 3 final by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff When the Abbey Park Eagles came out for the first practice of the season, their focus wasn't so much on winning a championship, it was just making sure they had enough players to field a team. With just 25 players -- one above the required number for a team -- the Eagles were cutting it close. The numbers may have been small, but the effort wasn't. "The kids definitely bought in," said Eagles coach Mike Linton. "They were at every practice and just to see where the guys are now from where they started off, it was a huge improvement." Where the Eagles were Friday was at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton for the Halton senior Tier 3 football final. And in a war of attrition, a couple of key injuries proved too much for Abbey Park to overcome as the Pearson Patriots scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes for a 21-7 win. "We have six guys playing both ways," said running back Malcolm Wallace, who left the game shortly after running 10 yards for a touchdown on Abbey Park's first possession. "When you get injuries, you get guys filling in and playing in places they haven't played before." "You lose your tailback in the first quarter and it shortens the playbook," said Linton, whose team handed Pearson its only loss this season. "That hurt us, and then we lose (quarterback) Cameron Dodd. We didn't have the team we did before (in their 19-7 regular season win). They couldn't stop our run early on." Despite the injuries, Abbey Park hung in with Pearson throughout the game. And leading the way was a defensive unit that played a big part in Abbey Park's success. Despite their early concerns about not being able to field a team, the Eagles opened the season with a pair of shutout victories and allowed only 29 points in six games leading up to the final. Dodd, playing defence, intercepted a pass on the Patriots' first possession in the final and then led a 53-yard drive inside the Pearson 30 that ended when Abbey Park turned the ball over on downs. When Dodd joined Wallace on the sidelines, the Eagles' offence stalled, but the defence kept Abbey Park in the game. It stopped the Patriots on third-and-two from the three-yard line, keeping the game tied 7-7 heading into the half. Pearson would eventually wear down the Eagles, though. With Abbey Park unable to sustain a drive on offence, the defence spent the majority of the second half on the field. The Patriots scored the goahead touchdown with just 4:13 remaining and added another in the final minute. "It was a helluva game," said Pearson coach Kevin Forsyth. "It came right down to the end. You just felt like the next point was going to win. Hats off to Abbey Park. It was a great game." The Eagles could only consider what might have been. The tandem of Wallace and Michael Hickey gained 49 yards on seven plays on the opening drive. Abbey Park picked up 40 more yards on its next possession, mixing in passes to Hickey, Daniel Pritchard and Austin Irvine. After Dodd left in the second quarter, Abbey Park managed only three more first downs. Still, Abbey Park took pride in what it was able to accomplish with a small and depleted roster. "To reach the final, especially in my last year, was really meaningful," Wallace said. After seeing many players come out for football for the first time in Grade 11 and 12, Linton hopes this season will help build the program. "Success breeds success, and not even just success in terms of wins and losses, but camaraderie, the guys battling through the season together. It's that atmosphere you build that attracts guys," he said. "But it's always tough when you see guys take off their shoulder pads for the last time."