Never Count A Game Over

I've seen some thrilling high school football games, an OT game between Central Tech and Northern needing vehicle headlights to keep the field lit comes to mind.

But, I'm told that I missed a dandy in Hamilton -- something they're calling the Steel City Miracle.

Get this: 17 seconds left in a semifinal game, Cardinal Newman leading. Then, some razzle-dazzle by Brebeuf -- one pass and five laterals resulting in a touchdown as the Braves rally to win 16-15.

Before you check out the video, here's some information for trivia folks.

In the NCAA back in 1982, with four seconds left in the Stanford Cardinal versus California Golden Bears the Golden Bears used five laterals and members of the Stanford band to hit the end zone for a 25-20 win in what has been known as "the play".

Here's another one. Eight years ago, in an NFL wild card playoff game, a controversial lateral ended up in a last-gasp 75-yard kick-return TD by Tennessee against Buffalo to overcome a 16-15 Bills lead in what is referred to as the "Music City Miracle."

An just over a year ago, trailing by two points with two seconds left in a game against Millsaps College, the Trinity University Tigers, an NCAA Division III football team, called a play for a short pass across the middle. The "Mississippi Miracle" ultimately included 15 laterals and a winning 60-yard TD.

As for the football players at Brebeuf, they'll remember the Steel City Miracle as well as the Braves next game -- a 21-0 loss to St. Thomas More in the league championship.

New Times for the Metro Bowl Football Final Four

Seems the folks running the Metro Bowl Final Four senior high school football playoffs really had a bigger communication problem than first reported on a blog earlier this month.

The Metro Bowl semifinals are now confirmed - with time changes. The late afternoon and evening playoffs weren't a big sell. Maybe it was the weather, playing outside late or maybe something else. Heck, the students would rather miss classes anyway.

So, on Thursday, November 27 (and, yes, the winners will be playing six days later in the grand finale at the Rogers Centre), semifinal No. 1  starts at 11:00am and has two-time defending Metro Bowl champion St. Michael's (the private school champ) playing York Region champ, Huron Heights of Newmarket.

Sound familiar?

Yes, these are quite possibly the best two teams - and they did go helmet to helmet in the Metro Bowl championship last year. Both are also undefeated.

Semifinal No. 2 at about 1:30 p.m. has Durham Region champion Donald Wilson of Whitby meeting the Toronto champion - either Birchmount Park or Northern. Both games are at Esther Shiner Stadium in Toronto.

I inquired about the match-ups and was told by Peter Morris, project coordinator for OFSAA and responsible for football, that a formula was developed in past and that's how the draw works out for this year.

One last thing, don't be surprised if the times change - again. If they do, you'll know by checking here.

10 Best Performances This Week

Tough picks as these young athletes keep making this job harder every week.

A careful glance through the game reports submitted by schools and, well, here are my best 10 of the week.

Yes, even managed to find a solid performance in volleyball.

Thank you to the folks who keep providing tidbits of information.

To make things easier, this week we listed our 10 best performances in alphabetical order.

Jenea Barrett, Eastern Commerce. She scored a game-high 28 points as Eastern Commerce beat Birchmount Park 58-43 for the Toronto District School Board Quad-A basketball championship. Eastern won the Triple-A title last year and went on to claim its first provincial gold medal.

Jahmari Bennett, Mount Carmel. You’ve seen his name on this list before. The Crusaders quarterback completed 14 of 20 passes for 236 yards, passed for four touchdowns and scored one himself in a 43-13 Peel region senior football semi-final win over St. Marguerite d’Youville.

Josh Collins, Vaughan. Boys’ basketball time – and we’re not even finished the girls’ playoffs. Collins sank 25 points in a 70-35 semi-final win over Westview. Then, in the championship game of a tournament hosted by his Thornhill-based school, fired 34 points in an 85-75 win over West Hill of Toronto.

Monique Forbes, Madonna. How about scoring 39 points in a basketball game for a junior age player? She did it in a 59-45 win over Mother Teresa in the Toronto District Colleges Athletic Association Division B final.

Jenisha Grant, Ascension. Haven’t heard much about this young athlete. That is, until the Peel region senior basketball final. All she did was score a team-high 23 points, which included seven three-point baskets in a 59-56 upset win over St. Marguerite d’Youville, a team that had only lost once previously this year.

Trevor Harvey, Birchmount Park. Appeared to have played the entire semi-final senior football game in a 21-20 cliff-hanger over Don Bosco. Rushed for over 100 yards, scored a touchdown, and also intercepted a pass while helping out on the defensive team.

Christine Hyde, Ascension. Top scorer in two key playoff games, including 28 points in a 79-40 win over Milton District to qualify for the provincial playoffs in Thunder Bay.

Wesley Kosiba, Father John Redmond. Yes, volleyball time. His serving was 100 percent, with three aces. His hitting percentage was 78 percent. Number of digs was four and he had two single blocks and shared in eight successful double blocks. It all added up to a three-match sweep over Mary Ward for the Toronto District Colleges senior title.

Akeel Lynch, St. Michael’s. Again, yes indeed. He scored more touchdowns than the opposing team. Make that three majors in a 43-6 win over Eastview from Barrie in a Metro Bowl junior football quarterfinal.

Vaneil Simpson, Riverdale. Her team finished a brilliant junior basketball season undefeated in 13 games and she capped it with a 30-point show in the Toronto District School Board final, beating Wexford 52-30.

Pierre Trudeau "beating" Stephen Lewis

I'm not a fan of voice mail, and it's not because I get dozens each day.

I received a message from an individual, who chose to call at 6:44 a.m., voicing some displeasure that we had a high school sports story in the paper about Pierre Trudeau "beating" (and he emphasized this word) Stephen Lewis.

No name or phone number was given. Just one angry person.

First off, there was no sports story in the Toronto Star or on the website.

We did have a score, like we do for dozens of school games and provided by reliable coaches or designates.

It was listed as a junior girls' basketball game in York Region between two schools, which just so happen to be named after prominent politicians.

Pierre Trudeau High was named after a Canadian Prime Minister, a Liberal and once touted as "the greatest Canadian in the 20th century". He was clever, flamboyant and charismatic. A political giant, he was first elected Canada's Prime Minister in 1968. Trudeau wore sandals in the House of Commons, dated celebrities such as Barbara Streisand, Kim Cattrall, Liona Boyd and Margot Kidder. Occasionally, he used obscenities to insult his opponents. He died at the age of 80 on Sept. 28, 2000.

As for Stephen Lewis Secondary, Lewis was never Prime Minister. But he did spend a fair amount of time in politics and was elected to the Ontario Legislature at the age of 26 while still studying at the University of Toronto. Lewis, affiliated with the New Democratic Party, was also a diplomat and served  as a United Nations envoy and Canadian Ambassador. Two high schools have been named after him - the other one in Peel Region.

Enough history, even though we learn every day.

As for that caller, I really would have liked to talk to him. Why can't people leave a name and return number? The call display was blocked.

For his benefit, just in case he reads this or has a colleague that might share it with him, we did not refer to any physical confrontation between Trudeau and Lewis. So, I'm not sure about the "beating" reference.

As for the score, Trudeau defeated Lewis 37-33 on the basketball court.

That has me thinking. I wonder if Trudeau and Lewis ever played the game?

I mean, basketball.

This caller experience brings back memories of a woman who also called me several years ago to complain about a story that we did have in the paper.

It was about Pope John Paul II beating Blessed Mother Teresa. Yup, also a basketball game.

Lesson No. 1 - Communication

Let's hope the weather stays as is.

November 27 is the date set aside for the Metro Bowl Final Four high school senior football playoffs. The venue is Toronto's Esther Shiner Stadium, a place that has artificial turf and lights.

Yes, lights and no worries about muddy fields. I know this is Canada and that football is played outdoors. But it's not me that's complaining.

Semifinal One is set for 4:00pm with the York region champ (either Huron Heights of Newmarket or Brother Andre of Markham) playing the private school champs from Toronto's St. Michael's. The other sudden death game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with the Durham Region champ (either Donald Wilson of Whitby or Holy Trinity of Courtice) going up against the Toronto Public champ -- Birchmount Park, Don Bosco, Northern or Richview.

Great, some coaches say, parents and friends and fans can attend. Yeah, right. Judging from recent years, not many people show up for high school football semifinals -- day or night.

So, why the late starts at this time of the year -- and when the majority of league games this year would be over by that time of the day?

Ah, communication. Turns out the representatives from each of the four regions just didn't get around to talking with each other to set a date and location. This should have been done months ago.

So now, scramble time. Varsity Centre at U of T will have a tennis bubble. Birchmount Stadium and Etobicoke Centennial Stadium are both unavailable because of repair and renovation work. Can't play at St. Mike's because, well, an opposing team won't want to play against the host team. And Esther Shiner is, believe it or not, booked other than for Nov. 27.

Peter Morris, the project coordinator for OFSAA, isn't supposed to get involved. But Morris, who pays a great deal of attention to school sports, often puts everything else ahead of himself. He's come to the rescue, yet again.

If not, those decisive games would have been played on some beat up school field and, yes, complaints and complaints and complaints -- likely from the same people who should have had this better organized in the first place.

Do we need a coach of the year award?

It's "coach of the year" time for high school football.

A tough job, some might say, picking just one school coach in Canada.

I'm told that the folks doing the choosing aren't looking for the coach whose team has compiled the most wins. It's about the positive impact coaches (these are volunteers remember) have on young athletes. Organizers relied on submissions in the form of essays from former students, now playing at the university level.

While an unspecified number of names were submitted, none of the five finalists was from the hotbed of football -- the Greater Toronto Area. Interesting.

Apparently, choosing a "coach of the year" isn't a big hit with many people.

Why shouldn’t every coach get an award -- and from the Boards of Education?

How about recognition for coaching by offering up class time in exchange? Last I looked, coaching is something taught in the sports classroom. But some people tell me all a "coach of the year" award does is provide a magnet for recruiting.

There are people who want to be the No. 1 coach in the country. Good for them. Some keep pushing me to have a Toronto Star high school "coach of the week" feature, much like we do for student athletes.

Anyway, nominations closed for the ninth annual NFL Youth Coach Award for Canada -- a public relations gesture designed to recognize community or high school level coaches across the country "who share a passion for football and dedicate themselves to the development of young players both on and off the field."

The winner gets two prizes: $5,000 in new football equipment for the team and a $1,000 gift certificate from a large corporate sponsor. The money is not for personal use but is to go toward things such as painting locker rooms or repairing fields and bleachers.

Good luck to Kevin Barnes at London's Mother Teresa, the only coach on the short list from Ontario. Bruce Haddow from Richmond, B.C., joins Dave Black of Winnipeg, Quinn Skelton of Medicine Hat, Alta., and Dave Diluzio from Calgary.

East York's Glenn Edwards did get nominated. Former Goliath Emiljano Daci, now a running back with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, took the time to brag about his former high school coach. Guess I have to wonder why hundreds of other Toronto-area students didn't do the same for the folks who gave up their time to help them become better people and football players.

Edwards, by the way, won the 2007 Leo Cahill Award. Yup, it’s another citation given to a voluntary coach.

The Road to the Metro Bowl

December 3.

That's the day for the 27th annual Metro Bowl high school football final at the Rogers Centre - a game that will be played on a field configured for the NFL regular season match, four days later, between the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills.

Some people don't like the idea of a Canadian game played on an NFL field - goal posts at the back of the end zone, shorter field and thinner field. Thank goodness we still have Canadian officials and three downs. Others say it's lots of commotion for nothing and the field should not matter.

So, who'll be in the final?

The Toronto District School Board semifinals are Nov. 14 with Richview playing Northern at Varsity Centre while, on the same day and same time, Don Bosco meets the defending champs from Birchmount Park.  The two winners meet in the final and that champ moves on to the Metro Bowl Final Four.

The Durham Region, also known as the Lake Ontario Secondary School Association, final has defending champion Donald Wilson of Whitby playing Holy Trinity of Courtice on Nov. 15 at Oshawa Civic Fields. Winner goes to the Metro Bowl Final Four.

In York Region, defending champion Huron Heights of Newmarket is back again but will play Brother Andre of Markham for the big prize. Both teams had met in season play, and tied. This final is also on Nov. 15 at Esther Shiner Stadium. Yes, the winner advances.

And the fourth team ?

That's the two-time defending Metro Bowl champs from St. Michael's. The Kerry Blues won their Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association last week over St. Andrew's. St. Mike's will be busy practicing and taking lots of videos of the other games.

My pick to win it all. Yeah, right. Too soon to call.

My Picks for the Best of the Best This Week

Here we go, with some dandy picks.

Playoffs usually bring out the best performances from many athletes, and that goes for the guys and gals in high school too. There are many more, I am sure, but coaches need to keep me posted and I keep asking for information, win or lose.

What a week of superb showings, far more than the 10 listed here.

So, kudos to my 10 of this week. They're not in any special order.

Vaneil Simpson, Riverdale. Just a very talented point guard who put up 42 points in a 55-44 win over Lawrence Park for the TDSB South Region junior basketball title.

Mike Vasile, St. Basil The Great. Mention soccer over at this west-end Toronto Catholic school, and the likelihood is you’ll hear his name. Vasile, also a provincial midget-age high jump gold medallist, scored the only goal of the game, and it was in the championship of the TDCAA junior soccer final.

Laurel Koverko, Etobicoke School of the Arts. Basketball player at a school known more for music and drama. She scored 13 points in a game she’ll remember the rest of her life. Her team beat West Humber 47-33 in the Toronto District School Board West Region Tier Two final. It was also the school’s first hoops title since the doors opened 27 years ago.

Carl Triveri, St. Michael’s. He didn’t score a touchdown in the Kerry Blues senior football championship but the Grade 12 wide receiver did catch 11 passes for 168 yards in the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association final. St Mike’s, two-time defending Metro Bowl champs, easily beat St. Andrew’s 27-7.

Tina Teng, Jarvis. Not too often do we hear about a teenage female basketball player, in the Greater Toronto Area, sink six three-point baskets in a game, and against a defending provincial champ. Teng did it, part of her game-high 21 points, but her team still lost the TDSB South Region final 73-43 to Eastern Commerce.

Raul Thompson, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Not a bad day for this Crusader. Four touchdowns, 230 yards rushing and another 75 yards receiving as Mount Carmel crushed St. Thomas Aquinas 45-14 in a Peel Region Tier One senior football quarterfinal.

Jill Stratton, Etobicoke. While she did score 30 points, and in a West Region Tier One championship game, Stratton simply took control of the playoff with her superior skills at both ends of the basketball court. The result: a 66-45 win over Richview and a spot in the city-wide playoffs.

Jonathan Tull, Pickering. I know it’s early but this was the first senior boys’ basketball tournament. Tull scored an impressive 36 points for the guys from Pickering (they won the provincial final last March in a squeaker). In the Huron Heights final, they easily defeated MacNab of Hamilton, 85-48.

Eamonn Kichuk, Bill Crothers. Capped an undefeated cross country season by winning a provincial gold medal. Kichuk, the only individual champ from the Greater Toronto Area in the six races, covered the 4,915-metre course in 16 minutes, 16.10 seconds. It was seven seconds faster than the runner-up.

Jenea Barrett, Eastern Commerce. Four games and top scorer in each. Very impressive. Her splendid performance helped the Lady Saints (defending Ontario champs) become the No. 1 team in the area after handing St. Marguerite d’Youville its first loss of the year, 70-52.

Got some names to add?

Picking On Private Schools

I can't say that I am surprised by a recent trail of correspondence in the past 24 hours from people who chose to be "anonymous."

Individuals who have a concern tend to raise their opinions, and some get downright nasty.

We really do welcome your comments. This recent batch, a surprising 17 in four days, has more than an opinion. They're all very upset at what they perceive is success in private school sports because of bursaries. They claim, in every case, these financial awards are used to attract students who, in addition to being successful in many areas, happen to be very good athletes.

Almost all the correspondence points to St. Michael's College School in Toronto. And because of recent stories of prominence in football. The Toronto private school won the junior and senior league titles in the past week and has been dominant against provincial teams. On a side note, St. Mike's is a centre of history in hockey but won just one Ontario gold medal.

The people who took time to call and write say private schools are getting away with deliberate recruiting. They may not win every championship, but still have great athletes, many from outside the school neighbourhood.

I can remember all the hullabaloo when Upper Canada and St. Andrew's had excellent teams in hockey. The best provincial high school gold medal game, I can remember, involved these two in an overtime thriller. I haven't heard people get all fired up about other private schools, and there are many, who have had students win events in track, cross country, swimming, and the list goes on.

People have a right to choose if they want to send their children to a private or public school. Toronto does have a handful of schools with exceptional athlete programs and those schools seem to be doing well in sports. Others, and several come to mind, dominate in certain sports and many students seem to recruit other students to stack teams. I would imagine there's some conversation going on with coaches too.

But the correspondence only mentions private schools.

I believe school athletic associations, teachers and administrators need to do a better job of policing their leagues. It's that simple. There is too much abuse and rules are developed for a reason. Enough talk, the rules need to be enforced. That's easy for me to say.

But I find that many educators have a difficult time doing this. The folks at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations also do a super job of talking, but they also hibernate a great deal. Chills circulate at OFSAA whenever a parent talks about taking his or her issues to the courts. OFSAA has a so-so record of winning battles dealing with its controversial transfer rule.

As if we don't have more important things in our society to be concerned about.

St. Mike's wins another football title

The first high school football championship in the Greater Toronto Area is now history.

St. Michael's had a field day, beating St. Andrew's 27-7. What else is new? The Kerry Blues have won four of the past five league titles and appear to be headed for a third consecutive Metro Bowl. That is, unless there is a better team in Toronto, York or Durham. I'm sure some coaches in those leagues have some things to say about that.

What impressed me about both St. Mike's and St. Andrew's was the quality of the game, the talent and the coaching. All right, it was a beautiful day and maybe it was just nice to be outside.

St. Mike's has four superb defensive linemen; three graduate this year. If university scouts haven't talked to them by now, they're making a big mistake. Martin Colangelo, Domenic DiCarlo and John Miniaci move on in June. Derek Wiggan, who is only in Grade 11, might be the best of the four. He had three sacks Wednesday.

St. Michael's gave up a touchdown with six seconds left in the game. Now, they wait a few weeks until all the other leagues catch up. Then comes the Metro Bowl Final Four with the winners going to the Rogers Centre for Dec. 3

Richard Quittenton looked very good at quarterback and I also think wide receiver/kicker Chris Patrician would look good in a Canadian university uniform. Almost forgot to mention Carl Trivieri - 11 catches for 150-plus yards. And St. Mike's may have played its best game of the year without its top scorer. Brendan Morgan is recuperating from an injury. He'll be ready for the next game.

For St. Andrew's, Max Bauer had a day he'd like to forget at quarterback. But the kid has talent and throws with accuracy. Receivers Matt Harrison and David Head also looked good. Eddie Meredith, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound offensive linemen, is player to watch. Apparently, only in Grade 10 too.