Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

The makings of a classic tilt by two powerful teams was there for the taking.

Instead, the senior boys’ Div I championship game ended up being a 31-8 drubbing in favour of the Notre Dame Pride over the Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats.

“I didn’t expect a game like that,” said Pride’s head coach Dave Diluzio. “I thought we came out pretty hard and we were just able to make some plays. I didn’t expect winning that game like that at all.”

“Bishop O’Byrne has been really coming on and they’re such a well-coached team and they have so much talent on offense and their defense. I’m really proud of my kids, they really responded after Tuesday’s scare.”

The impressive victory gives the school their first Div I championship banner, which narrowly evaded them last season when they lost 10-7 to the Henry Wise Wood Warriors in the final.

Pride running back Efe Ogolo put in an all-world performance that saw him find the end zone on three different occasions.

Quarterback Jimmy Underdahl scored on a 30-yard run for the Prides other touchdown.

Bobcats’ wide receiver Matt Morris scored a late consolation touchdown on a nifty reverse handoff from seven yards out.

The late touchdown did little to comfort the Bobcats, who coming into the game had high hopes of capturing the championship trophy, especially after their dominating performance over the Bowness Trojans in last week’s semi-final game.

In that game, the Trojans did not have an answer to the Bobcats’ running game, especially grade-11 urning back Denzel Morrisson, who torched the Trojans’ defense for several big gains.

“He is such a talented back we just focused on him,” said Diluzio about Morrison’s ability to run the ball.

The Pride were obviously paying attention to the Bobcat’s victory last Tuesday.

The key difference in the game was the incredibly strong play of the Prides’ offensive and defensive lines.

Defensively, they swallowed up the Bobcats’ runners before serious damage could be done.

Offensively, well, Ogolo’s three rushing touchdowns speaks volumes to how that match-up played out.

“All the credit goes to my O-line,” said a humble Ogolo. “They just opened up those holes really nice so it made my job a lot easier. Everyone, including the receiver did a great job blocking.”

When Ogolo wasn’t churning out the yards on the ground, Underdahl was conducting the Pride’s aerial assault like a finely tuned orchestra. And when he wasn’t throwing the ball, he was running it up the field on his way to a 30-yard touchdown run.

“He’s been solid for us all year,” said a freshly Gatorade-doused Diluzio. “The thing about Jimmy that I’m the most impressed with is his leadership ability. He came in as sort of a shy grade-11 kid and he’s just matured into a fantastic leader.”

The victory for the Pride tops off an impressive journey that began five short years ago when the school first opened it’s doors.

Since it’s inaugural season of Calgary high school football, the Pride quickly built a top-notched program that has earned plenty of praise for Deluzio and his cohorts by their peers.

Not far behind them are the Bobcats, another school fairly new to the party.

Considering this year’s team was made up of several grade-11 players playing full-time at key positions, including Morrison and quarterback Cody Dickinson, next year’s team should already be setting their sights on doing what the Pride did in their second year in Div I…which is win it all.

“Bishop O’Byrne is going to be in this game for a long time and it’s such a nice victory because we beat such a good team,” said Diluzio.

Action photos from this game are available HERE.