The top teams in the Simcoe County Athletic Association (SCAA) senior football loop will collide next week for the title, but the two Barrie squads punched their tickets to the big game in vastly different ways, Friday.
The Eastview Wildcats earned a narrow 12-11 victory over the Bear Creek Kodiaks in the opening SCAA semifinal game at J.C. Massie Field at Georgian College, while the Barrie North Vikings trounced the Collingwood Fighting Owls, 50-1, in the other.
The Vikings and Wildcats, who finished atop the regular-season standings with 6-0 and 5-1 records, respectively, will now battle for the SCAA championship Thursday, Nov. 8 at J.C. Massie Field.
Eastview Wildcats coach Martin Carl had plenty of praise to spread around to his team after their win over Bear Creek in Barrie on Friday.
“The defence was awesome and our punter, Will McCulloch, was tremendous. I think he had one shanked punt, but other than that I think he had seven or eight really good kicks,” Carl told BarrieToday. “Field position was huge.”
Although it was close at the end, Carl said he just wanted his team to make their plays and not commit any egregious errors that could hand the win to the Kodiaks.
“Some guys dropped balls they would normally catch. Maybe it’s just jitters, it’s nerves, it’s playoffs,” said Carl. “Today, we must have snapped the ball three times over the quarterback’s head and we fumbled it another four times, so that was not our best game, by far.
“But that’s adversity, right? The kids reacted well and Bear Creek’s a solid opponent," he added. "They’re very well coached and their defensive scheme is very effective.”
Eastview quarterback Nathen Tucker was ecstatic after the win over Bear Creek, despite the teams facing frigid and wet conditions throughout the day.
“I couldn’t get a handle on the ball the whole game, because it was just slipping,” Tucker told BarrieToday on the turf field after the victory. “We had a few good routes and we were able to beat them downfield, but it was just way too hard to get the ball down there.”
Eastview utility coach Joe Karwacki said it was just one of those hard-fought games that went back and forth.
“Our defence played really strong, but our offence has got some work,” he said. "I think we can do better. We made a few mistakes, but we’ll rectify that in next week’s practice.”
BARRIE NORTH WALLOPS COLLINGWOOD
In the second game of the day, it was all Barrie North Vikings right from the start, en route to a big 50-1 victory over Collingwood. It was already 43-0 at halftime.
While Collingwood played earlier this week, defeating the Innisdale Invaders on a last-second rouge in Barrie, the Vikings had to wait for their opponent.
“We had to wait all week to play this game on a Friday, so as the week was going, the momentum was building up,” said Barrie North quarterback Zach Patfield, who added he thought it was his team’s best game of the season. “No matter who we were playing, everyone was ready and to and everyone was really hungry.”
Barrie North coach Burke Erwin said everything just came together for his team today.
“All year, we’ve been working toward a common goal, so we’re really focused on executing the game plan,” he said. “Today was pretty seamless because of all the work we’ve put in.”
SCAA TITLE GAME
The Vikings and Wildcats will play for the SCAA championship Thursday, Nov. 8 at J.C. Massie Field. The winner of that game earns the right to face the champion from the Catholic School Athletics of Simcoe County (CSASC) loop for the Georgian Bay senior football title.
Eastview’s only regular-season defeat was against Barrie North, but the two teams should be evenly matched heading into the SCAA title game. During the regular season, Barrie North scored 224 points and allowed only 14, while Eastview accumulated 175 points with 26 against.
Eastview’s Martin Carl said he’s looking forward to it.
“We played them earlier this year and lost 11-8,” he said, noting the Wildcats had the ball on the five-yard line, but couldn’t score.
Carl said some of the Barrie North players are in their fifth year, “and they’ve come back with a mission. And we’re the only thing standing in their way. They’ve got a lot on the line.”
Primarily, Carl wants less fumbles next week.
“Our kids will be excited, so they’ll have to keep their emotions in check,” he said. “Physical errors are going to happen, but mental errors can be minimized. We’ll get some kids who’ll have big plays, so I’m looking forward to that next week.”
There are similar sentiments on the Barrie North side.
“We’ve played Eastview already, so we know what they do and they know what we do,” Patfield said. “It should be a good game and it’ll be a battle out there.”
Erwin said he thinks his Vikings match up well with the Wildcats.
“We’re up for the challenge,” he said. “They’re a very good football team and in order to be the best you have to beat the best.”
Thursday's game kicks off at 3 p.m.
