For the Markham Marauders, the fourth time’s clearly the charm.
Playing flawless football on both sides of the ball, the Marauders claimed their first Metro Bowl after three unsuccessful tries, by blanking the Birchmount Park Panthers 19-0 at the Rogers Centre Wednesday night.
After watching his defence put up two touchdowns in their semifinal victory, Marauders head coach Mike Feasby enjoyed watching his offence do all the scoring in the finals.
“We put up 19 points, we would have liked more and we left some points on the field,” Feasby said. “But our defence has been strong for us all year and it was time for our offence to stand up and get something done.”
Led by quarterback Tyler Pritty, the Marauders found the end zone just over seven minutes into the first quarter, as Pritty hooked up with younger brother Connor on a 26-yard strike to open the scoring.
“We have a pretty good connection, me and (Tyler),” Connor said. “At home we always throw a ball around, he’s always helping me out reading converges and everything.”
On the Marauders very next drive from their own 32, Tyler went deep finding receiver Aaron Gordon behind the Panthers’ secondary for an incredible 78-yard touchdown pass that sent the couple hundred Markham supporters into a frenzy.
“Those two passes for touchdowns … really broke their spirits and we were able to keep the ball rolling and keep everything moving,” Gordon said.
The Marauders defence then took over applying constant pressure and stifling Panthers quarterback Ryan Mitchell, who completed just 12 of 23 pass attempts while getting picked off twice. Against the run, they were even better allowing a mere 11 yards on 13 carries.
Those numbers left Feasby with nothing but praise for his defensive coordinator, Steve Hartslief.
“(Hartslief) did a great job. He scouted (the Panthers) really well and prepared our guys with a game plan and we followed it perfectly,” Feasby said.
Also shut down was Panthers star receiver Aaron Brown. After a huge semifinal game versus Port Hope’s Trinity College School where he scored two touchdowns, including an OFSAA-record 129-yard punt return, Brown managed only 30 total yards from scrimmage.
The Marauders then put up offensive bookends around their defensive performance thanks to a one-yard rushing touchdown by fullback Andrew Baille with only 56 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Pritty, already with two rings in the Metro Bowl from his previous two years playing for the St. Mike’s Kerry Blues, hoisted his third straight championship trophy, becoming the first player in the final’s 28-year history to win back-to-back titles with different schools.
In contrast the Panthers, playing in their inaugural Metro Bowl, became the sixth team to be held scoreless.