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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, December 4, 2014 | 32 M A Y D A Y Wishing there was one OFSAA football champ "Champions!" read a celebratory tweet following Holy Trinity's 50-16 dismantling of Ottawa's St. Peter at last week's provincial high school football festival in Hamilton. Champions of what, exactly, is unclear. The Titans received an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship banner after their domination of St. Peter. But so did eight other schools who won their OFSAA bowl games, including a Burlington Assumption Sports Editor squad that Trinity beat Oakville Beaver twice this year. Nine champions at the OFSAA level seems a bit much. Not that it's the Titans' fault, or any other bowl winner either. All they can control is how they perform in the games they play, which Trinity did this season to the tune of a 10-0 record and a 32-point average margin of victory. "I don't really concern myself with what OFSAA decides. They just tell us who and when we're playing, and we move on and we play," Trinity coach Joe Moscato said after the Titans qualified for the OFSAA festival with a 42-17 win over Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference challenger Hamilton Cardinal Newman last week. "I would love to have a playoff system. That'd be great. But I don't know if time would allow for it." Yes, time appears to be the biggest hurdle for a potential OFSAA playoff. The physical nature of football obviously prevents 20 teams from getting together at one location and settling a champion over a three- or fourday span. Players need a chance (in OFSAA's case, a mandated minimum of 72 hours) to nurse their bumps and bruises, and coaches need an opportunity to game-plan for their next opponent. As we were reminded of last month, when snow and cold forced the postponement of several football finals in Halton, weather makes the clock tick a bit faster. The Rogers Centre had been a venue for bowl games in the past, but sponsorship dollars apparently weren't available to allow the games to played in the climate-controlled facility this fall. There's also the beginning of the winter sports season to worry about, as many football players also suit up for their school's basketball or hockey squads (they can't do both simultaneously). Perhaps the answer is in having a more efficient regular season schedule that includes a couple of inter-conference games. Holy Trinity and Burlington's Assumption Crusaders combined to go 10-0 this year against the other five teams in Tier 1. Rather than beating up on the lesser lights in their own league, these teams might be better served facing the elite squads from two neighbouring conferences. Results from those games could then be used for comparison purposes in developing a ranking for a playoff, similar to the NCAA football system in the U.S. Holy Trinity's easy win over St. Peter, for instance, was predictable because St. Peter lost a pre-season game to a Halton team the Titans routed in league play. You could also conclude that Trinity is much better than Assumption College, since Burlington's Assumption defeated the Brantford school 28-9 last week and Trinity downed the Crusaders twice this year. If teams have enough common associations faced, you can at least narrow down the playoff field to eight teams (if not four), rather than 18 squads that played in OFSAA bowl games. It's still not a perfect science, but it seems better than the status quo. This year, the Titans will have to be content with their OFSAA bowl championship. And perhaps the fact that they are viewed as the top high school team in Ontario -- and third in the country -- by the CanadaFootballChat.com rankings, which didn't even feature Holy Trinity in its top 10 until the second-last week of the year. With Grade 11 quarterback Nathan Rourke (who already appears destined for a university playing career south of the border), plenty of talent and speed at the skill positions, and a defence that Moscato affectionately described as a "bend but don't break" unit, this was a special Holy Trinity team. Exactly how special, it would be nice to know. Jon Kuiperij A team from Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers is pictured with former NHL forward Brad May (back row, third from right) while participating in the Brad May Celebrity Hockey Classic last month at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The tournament, which also featured ex-NHLers Dennis Maruk, Tom Fergus, Troy Crowder, Brad Dalgarno, Al Iafrate, Dave McLlwain, Rick Vaive, Mike Krushelnyski, Ric Nattress and Gary Leeman, raised $120,000 for Easter Seals Ontario. A story about the Operating Engineers' experience can be read on our website at bit. ly/1yNzTgz.| photo by Grant Cameron -- Special to the Beaver Blades' win streak ends with loss, then draw Brendan McGlynn made 44 saves but the host Stouffville Spirit scored with just three minutes to play to earn a 3-3 tie with the Oakville Blades Sunday in Ontario Junior Hockey League play. Kamil Tkaczuk scored to give the Blades a 3-2 lead with six minutes remaining in regulation before Stouffville, which outshot Oakville 17-8 in the third, notched the equalizer. Blades goalie McGlynn made six saves in the two overtime periods to remain unbeaten in his past four starts. Ryan Burns and Jackson Bales notched Oakville's other goals. Friday at home, the Blades had their eightgame winning streak snapped with a 4-1 loss to North York. Vince Palermo had Oakville's lone goal. The Blades (17-10-1-2) will be home to Kingston tomorrow (Friday) and Milton Saturday, both 7:30 p.m. starts at Sixteen Mile. THE GYM Convenient, clean, and friendly. NAUTILUS We're Oakville's best kept secret! Est. 1982 High quality weight training and Nautilus cardio equipment. Experienced and mature personal trainers. Carpeted, air conditioned with ample natural light from large windows. Free indoor parking. Trial Offer: 3 FREE workouts with a trainer! 11 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville, ON www.thegymnautilus.com 905-844-1610 Halton Minor Ball Hockey Serving Burlington, Oakville & Surrounding areas Home of your Provincial Champions 2014 Champions: Atom BB, Peewee B & Junior B Champions 2014 Silver Medalists: Tyke BB, Peewee B & Bantam B Finalists 2015 Winter 30N3 Program Info: · Learn To Play for ages 3 to 6 years old and House league for ages 7 to 18 years old. · Saturday morning games from January 10th to mid March · Games played at Mainway Sports 2015 Spring 50N5 Program Info: 10th Season · Learn To Play: For ages 3 to 6 years old · House league: For ages 7 to 18 years old, · LTP & House league start mid April and end in late June. ACES REP and Select teams end in mid/late July. · Weekend and weekday leagues available. · Games played in Burlington and Oakville Arenas. · Registration Cost: We offer a family discount, save $10 off per child (**Discount not available) · Winter 3ON3: Learn To Play $125, House league $155 · Spring 5ON5: Learn To Play $99**, House league before January 31 $139, after January 31 $155 Call 905-637-8118 Or Visit www.ballhockey4u.com To register online or for more information