By Larry Moko
It took 18 games this season for a Bishop Ryan Celtics football team to finally taste defeat.
The junior and senior Celtics, who each finished first in their respective Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic high school leagues, combined for 17 straight regular-season and playoff victories.
That winning streak came to an end on Monday, however, when the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference champions from BR dropped a 25-0 decision to London's Catholic Central Crusaders in the Western Bowl.
The contest was one of nine OFSAA Festival finals being held at University of Guelph from Nov. 24-26.
"I'm proud of our season," Celtics coach Jim Davies said.
Bishop Ryan trailed 3-0 on a 15-yard first-quarter field goal by Marcus Fleury. And that's the way it stood until elusive Keyshawn Manning's one-yard touchdown run with just 11 seconds remaining before the break.
"We were competitive in the first half," Davies added. "We were well prepared. We had some opportunities, but it didn't work out.
"They are definitely a run-first team and they wore us down."
Catholic Central continued to pound away along the ground in the second half, leading to two more unanswered touchdown runs -- 58 yards by Manning and 16 yards by Fleury.
The Crusaders rushed the ball 53 times for a total of 438 yards. Individually, Manning carried 32 times for 277 yards while Nathan Sims gained 94 on nine tries.
"That's the best offensive line we've faced," Davies said. "Their No. 1 (Manning) is a powerful running back who is difficult to bring down."
For the Crusaders, it was their fifth OFSAA championship in the sport.
"London football and Hamilton football are both very strong," Catholic Central coach Alex Kurowski said.
"The one thing we thought could work to our advantage would be the physicality of our running game. I think that's the difference between London teams versus Hamilton teams. Over the course of the game I think it showed. We were able to wear down the opposition.
"The strength of our team clearly was our offensive line and running game. We just leaned into our strength and our identity."
The Crusaders coach said Manning is an "awesome" player, likely to be joining a university team next season.
Said Kurowski: "Manning rushed for over 1,400 yards in nine regular-season games. He's special."
Defensively, the Crusaders sacked Celtic quarterbacks Jack Redmond and Jack Racine a total of five times and made one interception.
Wide receiver Andrew Centurami led BR with five receptions for 56 yards. The Celtics top ball carrier was Jesse Vaccarella -- seven for 29 yards.
Catholic Central piled up 21 first downs compared to seven for the Celtics.
The Crusaders capped the scoring on a 31-yard punt rouge by Fleury, who also contributed three conversions.
Bishop Ryan's outstanding season included its first league championship in 44 years. In addition, the Celtics won the Cote Cup -- the annual regular-season game between BR and the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals --for the first time in that competition's 14-year history.
The junior squad contributed with a thrilling 29-28 championship victory over the St. Thomas More Knights after battling back from a 28-point deficit.
Game statistics courtesy of John Metcalfe.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
