Hall Wolfpack captures Metro Bowl by shellacking Chaminade College Gryphons 42-0 at Varsity Stadium

By Jim Stewart

In optimal mid-November conditions at Varsity Stadium, the ROPSSAA champion Hall Wolfpack whooped the Chaminade College Gryphons 42-0 to capture the GTA's Tier 1 Senior Football championship. 

Hall's 42-point victory at the 40th Metro Bowl on Wednesday afternoon was a shock and awe performance for the ages.

After the Wolfpack D stuffed the Gryphons' vaunted I-formation, triple option running game on Chaminade's crucial first possession, Hall's first turn with the football foreshadowed a very long day for the Toronto champs. 

Speedy defensive back and returner Owen Kenney picked up the punted pigskin on his 25-yard line, picked up a few key blocks as he crossed midfield, and it was off to the races down the right sideline – all the way into the end zone. Kenney's 85-yard punt return for a touchdown was a perfect start for the Green and Yellow-clad warriors from Caledon which turned the tables on their traditionally quick-starting opponents. 

Head Coach Jonathan Beresford explained his team's game plan versus the Gryphons:  “The real focus point for us was that Chaminade scored on their first time with the ball in their last four games. I saw them as a team that thrived on early leads and then they'd wear down the other teams with the Veer Triple Option—a very old school, double wing offense.  That was the key to the game – to limit #99 – Malike Ocloo's yardage.  We stacked the box and took away long gains by 99, 3 [halfback Isreal Ayorinde], or 0 [quarterback Matteo Pagliaroli].”

On cue, the Wolfpack flipped the script on the Gryphons with Kenney's dramatic TD and Eric Rizzardo kicked the convert. Hall led 7-0 before most of the fans were settled in on the sun-drenched bleachers.

After a 50-yard single by Adam Lackey put the Wolfpack up 8-0 with 4:03 left in the first quarter, Metro Bowl MVP Aiden Alcarez made his presence known.  

The intense Hall defensive corps forced a fumble on a gang-tackling mission to contain Pagliaroli. The agile Alcarez scooped up the ball and sprinted 25 yards into the end zone. Coach Beresford praised his linebacker's MVP performance.

“His scoop and score was one of the highlights of the game. He was taking on two blockers all day and focused on containing their quarterback from making big gains. He led the defense that just kept the mass moving against their offensive line. Aiden used the same tackling leverage and angles we've taught all year to knock down bigger opponents. He's also overcome a tough life in Mexico and we've taken him under our wing. This football team has kept him accountable and he's overcome so much personal adversity to be the MVP today.”

Due to Alcarez's early heroics and another convert by Rizzardo, the Peel champs led the Toronto champs 15-0 with 2:21 left in the opening frame.

Early in the second quarter, the Gryphons' punishing offence was gifted with great field condition due to a series of penalties and a shanked punt that put the ball on Hall's 24 yard line.

Ocloo rumbled for a 13-yard gain to the 11 but the Wolfpack D stepped up again with two big plays to repel the Gryphons. 

Defensive back Angelo Garofalo made a big open field tackle to stifle another veering sweep and Trey Robinson intercepted Pagilaroli's pass in the end zone to send the Gryphons' offence back to the bench empty-handed. After the three-minute warning, the Hall D forced another fumble on their own 27-yard line.

The Wolfpack offence caught stride—balancing the run and pass game—early in the second half.  With 7:20 remaining in the third quarter, Hall quarterback Joseph Ferlito found wide receiver Lucas Macklem at the back of the end zone to boost the Caledon club's lead to 21-0.

When Rizzardo kicked his third convert of the game, the Wolfpack held a 22-point advantage over their adversaries from Toronto.

After Hall's D stopped the Chaminade run game in its tracks for the umpteenth time at Varsity, Hall punt returner Kymani Stanley caught the ball near the sideline of the Gryphons' 50-yard line, and sped down the left side of the field to deliver the knockout punch.  Hall's second punt return for a TD – this time a 50-yarder – augmented their lead to four-converted touchdowns. Rizzardo's convert made it 29-0 with 5:07 left in the one-sided championship game.

Coach Beresford commented on the two punts that were returned for dramatic touchdowns by Kenney and Stanley:  “We have a wall return play and we start practice with it to stress the importance of special teams.  We're looking to score off this play and take pride in scoring on punt and kick returns.  We're lucky to have two dynamic return players—Owen Kenney and Kymani Stanley—that are both sprinters who have transferred their track skills to the football field.  Speed kills in Canadian football.  As the kids say, ‘We took two to the crib.'”  

It was lights out for the Gryphons when durable running back Lucas Carson-Pedri barged his way into the end zone from five yards out to put Hall up by 35-0 on the last play of the third quarter. Another convert from the reliable Rizzardo and the Wolfpack was 12 minutes away from a Metro Bowl title with an insurmountable 36-point lead. 

Wolfpack backup running back Avery Benn closed the scoring on a tush-push play by his burly offensive linemen who impelled their younger teammate into the end zone on a third and goal with 2:03 left to make it 41-0.  Rizzardo's sixth convert of the game provided the emphatic margin of victory.

Coach Beresford took a trip down memory lane to contextualize the celebration at Varsity:  “I grew up next door to Iona in Clarkson.  They won the 1996 Metro Bowl and I thought how lucky they were to be champions.  Thirty years later, I'm the head of a great football team.  That trophy means something to me.  It's a prestigious trophy—one of the best in Canada.  To hold it above your head—it really is surreal.”