This club is woefully overlooked and underappreciated. It has been competing at multiple levels for years and usually with great success. Many of its players have gone on pro careers. They get some press, most notably from Tim Baines of the Ottawa Sun, but otherwise go largely ignored by the general public.
The following is a portion of a bio for one of their varsity coaches.
Appeared in the Ontario Varsity Football League Provincial Championships in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, won 2 back to back Provincial Championships in 2013 and 2014, set the record at the Varsity level for being the only team to have appeared in 4 straight Provincial Championships and going undefeated for 3 regular season in a row, as well as breaking 11 all-time offensive records.At the time that my previous website went tits up (some time in 2013, I believe), I commented that "Myers Riders joined the Ontario Varsity Football League in 2001 after a dominant run in the Ontario Minor Football League at that age group. ...the varsity club is routinely competitive, having yet (unless the gaps in my research prove me wrong) to post a losing record in the OVFL."
We'll focus on the 2013 edition for now and hope for a return in 2019. The photography is from an Ottawa Sun recap, however, but I don't know to whom to give credit.
Niagara Falls Review - There were more than 1,400 fans at Kiwanis Field Saturday night and the Niagara Spears looked like they had everything in place to win the Ontario Varsity Football League championship.
The Ottawa Myers Riders, howeer, had other plans for who would be wearing the 2013 varsity championship ring.
...
The Riders came into the game undefeated at 10-0 and were well worth the price of admission.
Overall, Riders quarterback Nick Gorgichuk completed 24 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, putting an exclamation point on his record-breaking season in which he threw for more than 4,000 yards in just 11 games.
“This team set 17 OVFL records this year, and he (Gorgichuk) is the best quarterback I have ever seen in this league,” Riders coach Max Palladino said as his team celebrated their first varsity championship.
...
The Spears actually went ahead 3-0 on a Michael Domagala field goal to start the game, but the Riders came back with a vengeance, scored three straight touchdowns in the next 12 minutes and surged ahead 21-3.
The Spears put together a 70-yard drive in the middle of the second quarter and had the crowd and momentum on their side as they looked poised to score. But Spears quarterback Blair Robertson’s pass was intercepted by Riders linebacker Brad Herbst, who ran the ball back 85 yards to give his team a 25-point lead.
Early in the second half, the Spears didn’t give up and their defence came up big with a two-point safety, which also returned the ball to their offence. The ensuing drive, however, ended in another interception thrown by Robertson. The Riders then put the game away when they took a 23-point lead with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Gorgichuk to wide receiver Kory Morgan.
...
The Scoop
Spears 20 - Riders 42
St. Catharines Standard Star of the Game: Ottawa quarterback Nick Gorgichuk with 299 passing yards and three touchdown completions.
...
For the Myers Riders: Offence: Jonathon Cimankinda, 59 yards rushing and two touchdowns; Kory Morgan, 135 yards receiving and two touchdowns; Jaeger Prot, 24 yards receiving and touchdown; Connor Ayre, six extra-point conversions; Defence: Jordan Gorgichuk, interception; Brad Herbst, interception.
I was fortunate enough to stumble into a full roster for the team which, apparently, I copied from the OVFL website five years ago. Yay me for thinking ahead! Players in red were all-star team selections.
1 QB Gorgichuk, Nick
2 LB Butler, Justin
3 QB Jones, Costa
4 DB Laing-Richardson, Cam
5 RB Cimankinda, Jonathan
6 LB Cimankinda, Alain
7 QB Duffy, Matt
9 WR Charles, Rouben
10 WR Krzaniak, Nick
11 WR Malenfant, Cassidy
14 DB Jean-Baptiste, Philip
16 QB Sheahan, Kyle
19 WR Bradley, Mathieu
20 DB Gorgichuk, Jordon
21 DB Smyth, Graham
22 DB Elliott, Ty
23 RB Tanti, Keenan
24 DB Pierce, Daley
25 WR Taha, Hussein
26 RB Guest, Andrew
29 LB Ramos, Vicente
30 DB Doucette, Jordan
31 RB Ferron, Jahdel
32 DB Matthews, Taylor
33 RB Keenan, Charlie
34 WR Barrie, Kiell
35 WR Morgan, Kory
36 RB Legault, Jacob
39 RB Moore, Julien
42 DL Ferris, Scott
44 DB Henselwood, Mitchell
45 LB Herbst, Brad
47 LB Bakshi, Akash
48 DB Clayton, Jackson
50 LB Fletcher, Kyrique
51 LB Bonhomme, Ben
53 OL Johnson, Will
54 OL Butt, Kris
55 OL Scott, Richard
56 DL Bonifacio, Mark
57 OL Bolumbe, Gedeon
58 DL Allarie, John
59 OL Pisani, Josef
60 OL Young, Tyler
61 SB Lachance, Jason
63 OL Brakus, Andrew
64 OL Lukusa, Paul
65 OL Rowlands, Thomas
67 OL Redmond, Conor
68 DL Caissie, Paul
70 PK Ayre, Connor
73 LB Buckley, Jason
75 WR Cenatus, Eddy
76 DL Adams, Brett
77 SB Prot, Jaegar
83 SB Trunzo, Vincenzo
84 SB Papalia, Joseph
85 DB Pankow, Patrick
88 DB Urbani, Nicolas
91 DL Dervisevic, Jasmin
92 DL Bolton, Parker
93 DL Parker, Cabe
99 DL Derdzinski, James
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