Hall Wolfpack edges Suzuki Grizzlies 18-17 in ROPSAA Senior Football showdown in East Caledon

By Jim Stewart

In ideal October conditions, the Hall Wolfpack Senior Football team edged their ROPSAA rival David Suzuki Grizzlies 18-17 on Friday afternoon in East Caledon.

Wolfpack Head Coach Jonathan Beresford acknowledged his club's narrow win with a shrug of relief after the Grizzlies put up eight points in the final ten seconds of play.

“We made it interesting at the end.” 

Coach Beresford attributed the one-point victory to “Our DB's.”

“We were facing a very skilled quarterback today in JJ Robinson and a very big Grizzlies' receiving corps.  Our defensive backs kept Suzuki's passing game under control for most of the game with lots of knockdowns.”  

The Wolfpack Head Coach singled out the play of DB Keltrick Amanatey and praised his mobile group of defensive backs who “stuck with the game plan and guarded well against their receivers.”

“It was a satisfying win over a well-coached, talented Grizzlies team.”

Amanatey echoed his Head Coach's satisfaction with the big win versus the Grizzlies.

“It's a big victory for us. Last year, we lost to the Grizzlies. We felt ecstatic when we held on to win.”  

The agile defensive back, who was credited with three knockdowns and two near-miss interceptions, acknowledged how equally-talented the teams were on Friday afternoon.

“That was a close game all the way to the end and it was our biggest win of the season.” 

Hall's suspenseful one-point win on their home turf improved their record to 4-0-0. 

The Wolfpack opened the scoring with 33.5 seconds left in the first quarter.

Tyler Ferlito plunged into the end zone on a quarterback keeper to give Hall a six-point lead.

Hall kicker Liam Healey kicked a convert to make it 7-0 after twelve minutes of play. The opening major by Ferlito was set up by a grisly Grizzly punt that gave the Wolfpack the ball on the 28-yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Hall halfback Lucas Carson-Pedri rumbled for a first down and two successive runs set up Ferlito's keeper inside the five-yard line. 

With 1:12 remaining in the second quarter, Suzuki quarterback Robinson directed an impressive drive that included a 60-yard pass and run play and a deft toss into the end zone to narrow Hall's lead to 7-6.

A mishandled snap on the Grizzlies' convert attempt was smothered by a trio of Wolfpack special team defenders to maintain their team's one-point lead.

However, Ferlito was intercepted on his own 45 with 57.6 seconds left before half time. The crucial turnover resulted in a 15-yard field goal by the Grizzlies as time expired and the visitors took a 9-7 lead into intermission.

After Healey kicked a single to narrow Suzuki's lead to 9-8 with 4:53 left in the third quarter, the Wolfpack's kicker split the uprights with a timely field goal at 10:44 of the final quarter to give Hall the lead 11-9.

After the Grizzlies shanked a punt to give Hall the ball on Suzuki's 35-yard line, the Wolfpack's most electrifying offensive play of the game sealed the victory.

Running back Lucas Carson-Pedri rushed off tackle right, broke four tackles, and sped into the end zone to put Hall up 17-9.  Healey's first convert attempt was blocked by the Grizzlies, but officials deemed to visitors to have been offside on the play. Healey made no mistake on the subsequent effort to provide his club with an 18-9 lead.

As it turned out, the Wolfpack needed all of that nine-point lead.

The Grizzlies' next drive was assisted by a fumbled punt recovery, two big penalties against Hall's otherwise peerless defense, and two dropped interceptions by the Wolfpack secondary.

Despite these five extra chances during which the Wolfpack failed to clinch the victory, the Grizzlies did not get into the end zone and turned the ball over on downs.

On their ensuing drive, however, Robinson threw a dart for a 65-yard pass and run touchdown with less than ten seconds to play to narrow Hall's lead to 18-15.

The Grizzlies' two-point convert was thwarted, but a pass interference penalty in the endzone against the Wolfpack gave the visitors another shot.  With 7.9 seconds left on the clock, a rushing play secured two points for the Grizzlies to make it 18-17 and create some apprehension amid the Wolfpack supporters.

Suzuki's short kickoff failed to create one last possession and Hall dodged a bullet to retain their perfect regular season record. 

As Coach Beresford noted, his Wolfpack squad made it “interesting” right down to the final second of play on Friday afternoon.