Tigers topple Trojans

Caleb White wasn’t even sure if he’d be playing in Saturday’s senior football final.

Injured in last week’s semifinal, the Westgate Tigers running back toughed it out, rushing for 155 yards and a touchdown at Fort William Stadium to dash the Churchill Trojans drive for a third straight high school championship.

“I wasn’t really sure. I was kind of taking it day-by-day to see how I felt. I felt I was good enough to go, so I did,” White said.

“I just ran hard, that’s Tiger football.”

White wasn’t alone in his clock-chewing ways. Teammate Cody Sheedy scampered for 65 yards and two scores, helping the Tigers dominate time of possession in the second half, which they started with an 8-7 deficit.

For Sheedy it was a matter of payback.

“Three years ago we lost to Churchill in junior. I was looking for my revenge, waiting for my chance to change the outcome. It just feels amazing,” Sheedy said.

“I had injuries, I was out and just the brotherhood of my team we came together. They let me back in. I was so grateful to be a part of it.”

The key to the turnaround was the first drive of the second half.

Buried at their own 23-yard line after the opening kickoff, White started the eight-minute march down the field with a 20-yard gain.

Three plays later quarterback Dylan Tataryn kept the drive alive, diving for two on a third-and-one to move the chains. 

White and Tucker Arnold continued the ground assault, taking it inside the 10. That’s where Sheedy took over, gaining four on third down to extend the drive again and then punching it in from the one, recovering his own fumble in the end zone for the go-ahead score.

After a Jack Hughes field goal that drew the Trojans to within four, the Tigers took over the ball near midfield, and using the same recipe for success, marched down the field again to open the fourth, White’s six-yard dash making it a two-score contest at 22-11.

The Trojans, led by quarterback Justin Fui, put together a sustained drive of their own as an answer, but couldn’t find the end zone.

Fui, who finished with 196 passing yards and an 18-yard second-quarter TD pass to Mitchell Spence that gave the Trojans the halftime advantage, was picked off by Josh Whitehurst in the end zone, ending the threat.

Churchill got the ball back, but on third-and-10 from the Tigers 20, coach Mike Doromko decided to go for the major rather than kicking a field goal.

Once again Whitehurst got in the way of the would-be touchdown pass, Fui’s third interception of the day.

Sheedy said he can’t wait to test their skills at the OFSSAA championships on Nov. 28 in Etobicoke, Ont. against the Durham region winner, Pickering's St. Mary's Catholic High School.

“I’ve never been to Toronto. This is the best way to go down to Toronto for the first time, go down with my brothers and my family and play some hard-nosed Tiger football, the way we know how.”

Westgate coach Mike McNally, whose team captured its 15th senior high school crown, but its first since 2010, said there was plenty of motivation on the sidelines.

“Those fifth-year guys came out and really tore it up. You could see it. Those guys really wanted it today and those fifth-year guys carried us.”