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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, November 22, 2012 · 32 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-632-0588 (ext. 294) email sports@oakvillebeaver.com TAB seniors run out of time Tigers' last-minute rally ends inside opponents' 10-yard line By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF O EAMONN MAHER / METROLAND MEDIA GROUP PARTY TIME: T.A. Blakelock Tigers players celebrate after winning the Halton junior Tier 2 football championship Tuesday in Hamilton. Blakelock trounced Georgetown 41-14 in the final, avenging its lone loss during the regular season. Tigers maul Rebels to repeat as Jr. champs HAMILTON -- The last time the T.A. Blakelock Tigers met the Georgetown Rebels, they got run over. Maybe not on the scoreboard -- Georgetown won 14-7, handing the Tigers their only loss of the season -- but the Rebels rarely surrendered control of the game. "The game we played up there, they ran the ball really strong," said Blakelock coach Bob Bernier. "We had trouble stopping them and when we needed to get the ball back, we couldn't." The Tigers had no such problems Tuesday in the Halton junior boys' Tier 2 football final at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton. Blakelock found the perfect solution to stopping the Rebels' running game -- get a big lead and force them to pass the ball. Blakelock built a 21-0 halftime lead and didn't surrender a Georgetown offensive touchdown until the final minute of a 41-14 victory to repeat as Halton champs. "We came out strong and we showed what it means to be a Tiger," said Grant Hellmann, who scored three touchdowns, including a two-yard run to open the scoring. Georgetown was limited to 131 rushing yards, a total nearly doubled by Blakelock (258) and almost matched by the Tigers' leading rusher, Malcolm Forde (103). "That was our worst game of the season," Hellman said of the meeting with the Rebels a month earlier. "We made a lot of mistakes. We came into this game flying." Still, Blakelock's breakthrough could hardly have been predicted. The Tigers scored just a dozen points in a 12-7 win over Oakville Trafalgar in the semis and hadn't scored more than 28 points this year. Yet, after a couple of rushing touchdowns -- a 39-yard run by George Jeffrey to end the first quarter and an 8-yarder by John Lui in the second quarter -- Blakelock was up 21-0. Bernier credited defensive coach James Stainton for coming up with a game plan to neutralize Georgetown and his players for displaying improved tackling since the teams' last meeting. Falling behind, Georgetown had to abandon its biggest strength, a move that was hampered by the fact that Georgetown's quarterback had broken his hand in the semifinals. The Tigers would end up catching more Georgetown passes than the Rebels. Chuck Marner picked off two passes, Jeffrey had another and Hellmann ran an interception back for a major in the fourth quarter. It was the third different way Hellmann, who plays rep with the Oakville Titans, had scored after he caught a 13-yard TD pass from Aidan Challis earlier in the quarter. "Our coaches prepared us well. The first time (against Georgetown) we came out flat," said Jeffrey, who had 104 total yards. "This was our goal all year and we just kept going in the second half." Blakelock had every reason for a letdown after the Rebels' Aaron Steffens returned the second half's opening kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown and then recovered an onside kick. Instead, the Tigers defence went back to work and continued to put the ball in the hands of the Blakelock offence. After Hellmann's 13-yard reception extended the lead to 27-7, Challis found Christian Altiparmakyan for a 10-yard strike. Forty seconds later, Hellmann returned the interception 40 yards to the end zone. "This means a lot to us," Jeffrey said of the win. -- Herb Garbutt ne chance. That's all any team can ask for. Give us one chance to win a championship. The T.A. Blakelock Tigers had waited a long time for their day to arrive, and Tuesday they got it in the Halton senior Tier 2 football final in Hamilton. Trailing 17-14, Blakelock's Matt Turner recovered a fumble with nine seconds to go in regulation, keeping his team's season alive. "It gave us a shot," said Tiger receiver Tanner Barwell. "A last sense of hope." After a quick sideline pass to Brandon Tyrell, Blakelock stood at the Christ the King Jaguars' 47-yard line with 2.5 seconds left. It had all the makings of a Hollywood ending for the Tigers. Blakelock had already shown a knack for delivering spectacular plays -- Benjamin Leavitt broke a short pass for an 85-yard touchdown to open the scoring and Tanner Barwell caught a 27-yard TD pass from Connor Jensen on a double reverse. Now the Tigers needed one more. As Blakelock quarterback Brad Noonan took the snap, Barwell charged down the right sideline. Noonan looked at one option, then another, and as the last fractions of a second ticked off the clock, he unleashed a throw in Barwell's direction. With a Jaguar opponent right on Barwell's heels, it needed to be perfect to hit the receiver in stride. "I saw the guy; I knew he was there," Barwell said. "But in those seconds, it's just me and the ball until I make sure I have the ball in my hands." The throw wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close. Barwell reached back slightly and pinned the ball against the side of his helmet -- sound familiar football fans? -- before pulling it to his chest. As he did, the defender shoved him knocking him out of bounds. At any other point in the game, it would have been a well-executed 40-yard gain. In this instance.... "It's heartbreaking," said Noonan, moments after his final high school game had ended. "I was confident we could get down there and score. It was a great catch by Tanner but..." As tough as the loss may have been to swallow, it was a monumental leap forward for the Blakelock seniors, who had lost 17 consecutive games dating back to 2009 before beating Christ the King 27-7 in this year's season opener. And with back-to-back Tier 2 championships at the junior level, there should be little concern about the Tigers taking a step back despite the graduation of several key players. See Senior, page 33