The boys of fall kicked off another season at EDSS on Wednesday afternoon, as both the junior and senior football teams were in action against Resurrection Catholic Secondary School.
The junior team played a close game, and managed to come away with a 15-13 win. Coach Dave Munroe, who is new to the school’s football program this year, is looking forward to the season ahead.
“It’s nice to get the first win under our belt,” he said after Wednesday’s game, which the Lancers won by scoring a safety in the last minute of play. “With three new coaches, and this as my first year here, it’s sometimes hit-and-miss, but it’s been great.”
Inevitably every year of junior football has some early growing pains as many players who have probably never strapped on the pads before take to the field. That’s where the veteran leadership of the older players is critical.
“The Grade 10s have done a great job stepping up and showing them the ropes,” Munroe said. “Even in the last two weeks they’ve come leaps-and-bounds from the start of the year.”
The senior boys’ team, however, wasn’t as successful in their game. They fell 28-7 to Resurrection, the three-time defending WCSSA champs.
Coach Steve Karn remains optimistic they can put the early-season loss behind them. With this year’s squad, he feels that they can compete against any team in the league thanks to the amount of veteran experience the team boasts.
“We’ve got the biggest group of seniors returning ever. The level of experience on both sides of the football is going to be good,” he said. The team also features many members of the junior team that went all the way to the league championship two years ago, but lost.
“They’re hungry,” Karn said.
He admits that last year’s team was smaller than he would have liked, and that they got pushed around by a lot of teams, causing them to lose some close games. He doesn’t see that happening again this year.
“Defensively we’re strong and fast. We’re not going to get pushed around as much as we did last year.”
He also says this year’s players are willing to work harder to achieve success.
“Last year we had trouble getting players out to practice, but this year we’ve had 40 to 44 guys out every night. I think they know that we have some talent and want to win.”
Both teams suit up next against Waterloo Collegiate Institute on Sept. 30. Kickoff is 1 p.m. for the juniors, and 3 p.m. for seniors.
