Tigers triumph, earn Northern bowl date with 8-3 win over Vikings

Keon Doblej didn’t care which side of the ball he scored on.

All that mattered to the Westgate Tigers quarterback on Saturday afternoon was that one way or another he found a way to cross the Hammarskjold Vikings goal line.

That’s exactly what he did three minutes into the second quarter of the high school senior football final, snagging an errant Alex Nemek-Bakk pass and scurrying 42 yards the other way for the pick-six that proved to be the difference in the championship game.

The Tigers, underdogs after a 3-4 regular season, pulled off the upset, going on to defeat Hammarskjold 8-3 at Fort William Stadium to earn their first title since 2007.

“I’m kind of speechless right now. I just kind of want to take in the moment with my team. It was a hard win, with hard work all week. It’s just a team,” Doblej said.

He refused to take credit for the score, which propelled the Tigers into the Nov. 24 Northern Bowl at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

“It was tough, but as long as we had our coaches, we were going to win. We couldn’t do it without them,” said Doblej, who also delivered a pair of single points off punts.

Halfback Hunter Mina, who plowed through snowy, rainy conditions for 123 yards, pulling precious time off the clock when the Tigers were trying to keep the ball out of normally explosive Hammarskjold hands, couldn’t contain his emotions once the reality of the championship sunk in.

“I feel legendary right now. It’s unimaginable. This is the dream that we’ve been talking about since Grade 9. It’s unreal,” Mina said.

“I knew what had to be done. I knew my team needed this. I followed my blocks and it just happened.”

Hammarskjold mounted it’s only sustained attack of the game early in the contest, the result a Gavin Hoy field goal that gave them an early 3-0 lead.

Westgate managed to drive the ball to the Hammarskjold 19 on the ensuing possession, but turned it over on downs.

Their next possession resulted in a botched hand-off by Doblej, the fumble recovered by the Vikings Thomas Aro.

But the Vikings couldn’t take advantage, despite a pair of first downs engineered by Nemek-Bakk and Ryan Hrkac, and were forced to punt with six minutes left in the half.

After the Tigers went three and out, Nemek-Bakk’s next pass proved to be the fateful one, as Doblej watched it all the way, stepped in front of Vikings receiver Nick Potter, and took it home.

The extra point was blocked, making it 6-3 Westgate. They added a single on a punt and took a 7-3 lead into the half.

The Vikings appeared to get a break on a third-and-four when Westgate was called offside, giving them a first down at midfield.

The managed to push their way to the Tigers 36, but a 45-yard field goal attempt by Hoy was blocked by Trevor Hynnes and Westgate took over.

Westgate coach Mike McNally gave huge props to his defence, which came out to play when it counted, he said.

“We’ve been huge underdogs all year. But we’ve been telling our guys that as long as they come together as a team they can win a championship. We talked about that since Day 1. This team came together,” McNally said.

“I don’t believe it’s an upset. I think we’ve got some real good football players and it just took us a while to gel. Now that they’re together as a team, we’re a force out there, especially on defence today. Defence won us this championship.”

Hammarskjold kept finding opportunities, but weren’t sure what to do with them. Hoy picked off Doblej four minutes into the third, but three plays later they punted the ball back to the Tigers.

Nemek-Bakk would string a pair of passes together, despite the waterlogged ball, but couldn’t find an open receiver – or did and a catchable ball was dropped – ending the threat.

“I have to give full credit to Westgate,” said Vikings coach Mike Judge. “They had a game plan for us and they were very well prepared. They outdueled us in a defensive struggle. Hats off to them, they’re a classy team,” Judge said.

With time running down the Vikings had one last chance to erase the five-point deficit. But Nemek-Bakk was sacked for an 11-yard loss by Mitch Legros to start the drive. He recovered with a 23-yard hook-up with Potter and a 12-yard gain to Geordie Savela that got them to the Westgate 51 yard-line. But it’s as far as they’d get, turning the ball over on downs.