The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

W'wasdmeOntarkrBJtteswhomnthe Canadian Rugby (mmphmhip senior men’s title this past summer. t More recently. though. toflhouse was a member of the Markham Irish Canadian mm Football Club men’s firsts that tackled the coveted McCormick Cup prmh'ncial title with a haul-fought 8-3 win over the Anmrd Barbarians on an aid and windy day. played onamuddyl-‘letcher’sFickitnMuflumlast Saturday. For the Markham ln‘sh (:anadians. the McCormick Cup title was their first since 2008 and the club's provincial leading 17th Ontario Cup (1950-8!) and Whnnick (Sup (1982 to present). v Jesse Lofthousc has played rugby ft): 3 numbadyears. But if you asked the 21-year-old Stout?le lament which season stands out the most dudng the time he's taken to the pitch. it won't iake In for a response. ‘ - . In fact. doesn't have to look that far back in his memoirs ’ pionship dubs 5 Former Spartans rugby duo come out on top The recent 2013 campaign was by far his l-‘spednllyiafier he was a pan oftwo cham- “It‘s definitely been a good year and‘a lo: of IY MICHAEL HAYAMWA mhayakdmalfiyrmgum: Especially since he's played with the core of the team the las! three years. Among (ha: youp are several Slouffvllle residents and fellow Stouflville District Sec- ondary School gmduates. including his older fun.“ lnfthouse said of what he's accom~ plished this season. provincial senior men's titlewithmeOntarioBmesinjusthisfirsl season with them was rewarding. Lofihouse was quid: to note his latest feat with the Markham Irish Canadian team was a little more satisfying. SPORTS brother and outsideoentre. Ionian. prop Pal Lafinn. scrum half Chris Boake, outside and inside centre Joe Beare. second raw Connor MacDonald. second row Gavin Howe and his older brother and back row member. Adam. “lgewupphymgwiththeseguysandto finally at it all together. it feels amazing, All of the adopmem and hard work we put in has finally paid off." lofthouse. a winger for the Markham Irish Canadians. said. “To win the cup (McCormick) is awesome. I can't even describe it. It's unbelievable." Reflecting on the match. infihouse felt several factors were critical in their success 4 For starters. he said their gameplan worked to near perfection. “Weâ€"hadtotwandkeep theballforas bngaswecmfldandwhen thcy(Aumm)had d1eballwecoddn'tafford.togivethem any ground." he explained. It also didn't hurt that Mother Nature appeared to smile on them by creating adverse playing conditions. which worked in their favour. “Vk really have a good forward attack and a teamyflke Auwh'a likes to am and spin the ball out wide and the we! afid muddy condiâ€" tions did not help them.” Along with those factors. lofthouse wwz quick to credit the resolve of his teammates “We had a lot of heart.” he said. “1119 night bebmmcgame. wehadaleam dinner andhadakmgtnlkandsaidWhmmhmkcs towin.we‘vegmt0doilandmgotthehb In savoring the moment of winning the Mdbrmick 01p. Lofihouse revealed it also W a Pemnal'hne'sgandine Curse he em rimcedhbng with Lafian. exiending bacli to their days as teammates on the Sloufiville Dis- trictllighdexfiSpartamscniorboys'mgtw [hiring their time with the Spartan seniors. Lolthouse recalled they HI short .of winning the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Asso- ciations MM gold medal on two occasions Since that time, the pair had not played together on a championship team. That was until regulation time expimd in Saturday's finale. when they immediateiy embraced each other with a congratulatory “lastwwkwhcnmplayedmmesemifi- nals (which resulted in 817-12 win over pmâ€" unbeaten Brantfmd Hariequim) M- said to each other that we've got to get out of this slump." recalled bohhouse. “We played together and lost in the (OI-W) finals when we were at Distn'ct Iligh‘School and to reach the final gave us some hope. “It's niur to know that we finally came out on top"