SCHOOL SPORT CANADA• SPORT SCOLAIRE CANADA

SSNS 2021 Football Championship

November 11, 2021 by  
Filed under Provincial and Territorial News

Division 3: Friday November 5 at Burnside, 7pm – Prince Andrew High School 46 def J.L. Ilsley High School 7

Division 2: Sunday November 7 at Acadia, 3pm – Park View Education Centre 41 def Lockview High School 7

Division 1: Sunday November 14 at Huskies Stadium 1pm – Auburn Drive High School Eagles 30 defeated Bay View High School Flames 20

Auburn Drive High School

————————————————————————————————————

Auburn Drive caps off perfect season with first provincial football title

Glenn MacDonald

For three quarters, Auburn Drive’s perfect season was cast in doubt.

Luckily for the Eagles, football has four quarters.

The high-powered Eagles – playing in their first provincial football final – scored 22 unanswered points in the final quarter to battle back and beat the Bay View Flames 30-20 in the School Sport Nova Scotia’s Division 1 championship Sunday afternoon at Saint Mary’s University.

The victory capped off a 10-0 combined regular-season and playoff record for Auburn Drive this season.

“This means everything,” said an ecstatic Troy Hawkins, the Eagles’ Grade 12 quarterback, as his teammates celebrated at midfield. “This carries on the seniors’ legacy for the rest of our lives.”

After a tentative, defensive first half, in which Auburn Drive held an 8-6 halftime lead, Bay View took advantage in the third quarter of playing with the bitter north wind which swept across Huskies Stadium.

Flames quarterback Owen Aucoin used his speed and the ground attack to perfection in the quarter. The Grade 10 pivot corralled a high snap and found an opening to his right, straight into the end zone to give Bay View its first lead with 6:50 left in the third.

Following a big stop by the Bay View defence and a strong gust that played havoc on the Auburn Drive kicking team, the Flames started on the Eagles’ 22. Aucoin immediately went to work, gaining 18 yards on the first play and then scampering up the middle to the end zone to give his club a 20-8 advantage.

“They had a good game plan for us,” Hawkins said. “We should have attacked the field deeper earlier (in the game) I thought.

“We just had to keep their defence honest.”

Unfortunately for Bay View, an Aucoin fumble on second down from his own 25 late in the third opened the door for the Eagles to begin their comeback.

On the first play of the fourth and Auburn Drive facing a third-and-four, Hawkins rolled to his left, avoided a couple tackles, and powered his way inside the pylon at the goal line. The two-point conversion was good, and momentum had flipped for the Eagles, who trailed 20-16.

“We just knew we had to bounce back, or the season is lost, it was as simple as that,” Hawkins said. “We just had to keep fighting.”

Bay View managed to get into the Auburn Drive zone on its next drive. But a bad snap on third down from the Eagles’ 48 had Aucoin scrambling before he was brought down at the Flames’ 42.

Hawkins then went to work. In three plays, the Eagles quarterback rushed 17 yards for a first down, found his favourite target – star receiver Zion Brown – for a 24-yard reception to the Bay View 1 and then shucked and jived a couple Flames’ defenders before diving into the end zone to retake the lead. A two-point conversion to Brown put the Eagles ahead 24-20 midway through the quarter.

“That’s my boy,” Hawkins said of Brown. “We go way back. We’ve been playing with each other since we were seven.

“He’s definitely been my No. 1 target all year and he made plays every time he caught the ball. It’s special to watch.

“This is probably our final game together. I’m going to miss throwing to the guy.”

From there, the Eagles defence overpowered its opponent, smothered the Flames’ ground game and limited their pass options.

Auburn Drive got the ball back and, on a play-action, Hawkins rolled to his right before finding a wide-open Brown in the end zone to seal the victory.

“Things couldn’t have turned out any better,” said Hawkins, who would like to gain some weight during the off-season and try to play university ball next year.

“We fought hard and fought to the very end. There was no quit in us all game and that’s what got us the win.”

Comments are closed.