The junior football team at EDSS has plenty to be proud of this season, despite losing in the semi-finals last month.
After defeating Grand River Collegiate Institute 7-0 on Nov. 16, the Elmira squad advanced to play the first-place Jacob Hespeler Secondary School team on Nov. 20. They fell 42-7, giving them a third-place finish in the league of 13 teams.
“The boys, they played the best they could. They were outmatched. Jacob Hespeler’s a really good team. We played them during the regular season and they beat us 33-1 so we knew that we’d be in tough. They kept trying for four quarters so that’s all we can ask for, but we were just outmatched, for sure,” said head coach Dave Munroe.
Elmira scored at the end of the first half versus Jacob Hespeler, and they had a couple decent drives in the second which put them in a scoring position, but they couldn’t push it far enough to score. JHSS was leading by a wide margin at the half and took their foot off the gas in the second because they were winning by so much, says Munroe.
“They have a lot of guys that play year round. They play for the travel team down in Cambridge. Their chemistry’s already there because they play together in the off season and they’re just on the field a lot more, playing all year round, versus our guys that a lot of them when they come into Grade 9, this is the first time they’ve ever played football,” he said.
The team got together the day before the game as part of a wrap up to the season. One of the coaches is a youth pastor at one of the local churches and they made a meal for the team and watched Remember the Titans.
They’ve provided workout schedules for the Grade 9s returning to the team next year.
“They usually do their off season workout program and we have usually three or four dates throughout the season where we do fitness testing, just to see how they’re progressing throughout the year,” Munroe said.
They’re tested in agility, footwork, box jumps, pushups and the flexed arm hang test. And the majority of the players have been taking it seriously the past few years.
“Usually most of the Grade 9s do show up to the testing days and a lot of them are in the weight rooms at lunch. They can buy memberships at the school, so a lot of them workout at school during lunch,” Munroe explained.
He says the team’s happy with how they did this season, especially making the playoffs and then playing in the semi-finals. They were disappointed with the loss to Jacob Hespeler, but they understand they’re not as experienced as them.
Elmira lost by a score of just 7-0 in the last game of the season to the other team that was in the finals against JHSS. Munroe said that was a really tight game with them, and it shows how they were able to compete at the top of the league.
“It was a great season. The coaches were happy with how they progressed, for sure. Any time you finish top three in WCSSAA it’s definitely a good season.”
