Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

Last year the Notre Dame Pride made a big splash in their inaugural season in senior boys’ Div I football.

This season, the Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats are making a similar impression with their convincing semifinal victory over the Bowness Trojans.

Naturally, both teams will go head-to-head in this year’s championship final on Saturday (8pm at Shouldice Park).

The Bobcats rode a suddenly explosive and diverse offense and an air tight defense that frustrated a normally potent Trojan attack to no end to earn their spot in Saturdays final.

The majority of the Bobcats’ offense came courtesy of the lights-out running game spearheaded by grade-11 back Denzel Morrison, who scored two rushing touchdowns.

Ryen Reid and and Jason Orey each added a touchdown to complete the Bobcats’ scoring.

Garret Field scored the Trojans’ only major on an impressive 70-yard run.

The Bobcats wasted no time getting on the board by scoring a touchdown on their first possession of the game.

The score came after a brazen short-kick on the game’s opining kick-off, which they recovered at mid-field.

Quarterback Cody Dickinson promptly marched the offense down-field before hand the ball over to Morrison for a five-yard touchdown run.

The brave opening play call by the Bobcats’ coaching staff seemed to set an early tone that favored the Bobcats, and perhaps became an omen for the Trojans.

On the next possession, the Bobcats picked up a dropped pass behind the line of scrimmage that lead to Reid’s two-yard run into the end-zone.

Definitely not the start the Trojans had envisioned.

With a comfortable two-touchdown lead, the Bobcats had the luxury of putting their impressive ground-game to work to grind down the Trojans’ defense.

“Suddenly we grew more threats,” said MacCready. “In that game we grew more threats, and now they’re bonafide threats. They’re grade 11, but they’re bonafide threats.”

As the game wore on it became evident that the Trojans didn’t have an answer to Morrison, who converted several third-down runs into first downs.

In the third quarter, the Bobcats used up nearly seven minutes on one drive alone, which was eventually capped off by a Morrison eight-yard touchdown run to give them a 20-1 lead.

The Bobcats again added to their lead a few plays later when Orey scooped up a lose ball turned over by the Trojans offense at midfield, and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

The most impressive thing about the Bobcats’ play through their two playoff games has been the balance they’ve displayed on both sides of the ball.

During Tuesday nights’ semi-final win, they shut down one of the league’s most potent offenses and they deployed a potent attack that was equally as effective in the air as it was on the ground.

“Our offense is rolling,” said Bobcats head coach Derek MacCready. “We’ve always had talent on our offense.”

But that talent wasn’t always as confident as they are now, at least as far as their passing game is concerned.

MacCready points to a game against the Raymond Comets earlier in the season where they were forced to play without the services of Morrison, who was unavailable for the game.

The team was forced to spread the offense around more than usual, and the result was hugely positive for their confidence.

“Suddenly we grew more threats,” said MacCready. “In that game we grew more threats, and now they’re bonafide threats. They’re grade 11, but they’re bonafide threats.”

But just beyond the horizon is their biggest test of the season, the undefeated Pride eager to capture their schools first ever Div I football title.

But MacCready has every reason to be confident. His team has peaked at the perfect time of the season. Their offense is putting points on the board, and their defense is keeping the points off the board.

But their biggest advantage may come courtesy of the ground beneath them – the brand spanking new Shouldice turf that tends to favor teams with speed.

“We’re undefeated on this plastic stuff,” said MacCready while glancing down at the turf.

Then again, so are the Pride.

Action photos from this game are available HERE.