The first two SDSSAA (Sudbury District Secondary Schools' Athletic Association) flag football finals (juniors) are now in the books with the seniors set to take to the turf at the James Jerome Sports Complex on Thursday evening.
On Wednesday, the St Benedict Bears received a pair of touchdowns from Edna Fofana and one each from Allie Vaillancourt and Kallie Smith, vanquishing the Champlain Requins 27-8 in the Junior Division B championship affair.
Place kicker Emma-Leigha Scott split the uprights on three of her four attempts while Maëlle Lamoureux replied with a TD in a losing cause, her score followed by a two-point conversion from teammate Ferryn Johnston.
In the junior "A" gold medal outing, Lia Gallo recorded a pair of majors and five conversions in leading the Lo-Ellen Park Knights to a 35-14 triumph over the Lasalle Lancers as the Purple and Black earned their second straight city banner.
Emma Mourre, Rya D'Amour and Annabelle Richardson all reached the end zone for the Knights while Lasalle six-pointers came courtesy of Audrey McKinnon and Chloe Robichaud, with Veronica Paquette chipping in with a pair of PATs.
The Senior "B" final will see the Champlain Requins looking to avenge their loss in the 2024 clash against the St Benedict Bears, taking to the turf opposite the Macdonald-Cartier Panthères at 6:00 p.m. while the Senior "A" encounter mirrors the junior tilt as Lo-Ellen and Lasalle go head to head once again.
The Champlain seniors continued to roll on Tuesday in their semi-final affair as Sophie Leveillé and Malika Grenon both scored twice, providing far more cushion than was needed for a Requins 40-0 shutout over the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes.
Champlain has now won seven straight games, surrendering just 19 points along the way as returning seniors welcomed an incoming class of rookies who claimed the SDSSAA Junior "B" crown last fall.
"The juniors felt some pressure when they were brought up but they handled it super, super well," said Léveillé, a running back who does double-duty, also competing with the Sudbury Spartans girls tackle football team.
"With our seniors, there's pressure because it's their last year - but everybody is playing to the best of our abilities."
A 16 year-old in grade 11 who has been no stranger to the end zone in tackle play, Léveillé offered a comparison in how she approaches her role given the two versions of the game that she loves.
"In some ways, there's not a big difference because as a running back, I just take the ball and I run," she said with a smile. "In tackle, you will have times where someone is blocking and making a hole so it's easier to have room cleared out and open field."
"In flag, you have to use your hips more and adjust to that."
According to Léveillé, it's not a shock that her smaller school is enjoying so much flag success in recent years given the presence of coaches Veronique St-Jean and Miguel Bélanger.
"We our privileged to have them," said Léveillé, explaining some of the play-calling that she believes helps to set Champlain apart from many other teams.
"On defense, we don't just focus on getting their flags. Our coaches like to push us to get interceptions. On offense, we are doing a lot of different routes, a lot of different handoffs or fake handoffs."
Football will come to a close on a local level on Saturday as the Lo-Ellen Park Knights junior boys host the St Mary's Knights from Sault Ste Marie at 1:00 p.m. at James Jerome, with the Confederation Chargers and Korah Colts set to duke it out at 4:00 p.m. in the senior match.
