1979 Ottawa Sooners National Championship Season

Ottawa Sooners 13, Regina Rams 09

(November 10th, 1979, Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton, Ontario)

The 1979 season is arguably the most succesful in team history.  For the first time, the Sooners won 14 games (playoffs included) and capped off the season with a National Championship.  That championship was the first for an Eastern team since the Sooners won their previous one in 1974.

The Rams had plenty of cause to show up as well.  A victory would have been their seventh national championship, at the time the most of any junior club.  They also were not lacking for momentum; in four playoff games they had outscored their opponents 178-35.

The Sooners' lone touchdown was scored on a two-yard quarterback sneak by Duncan Anderson.  The play was set up by a botched Regina punt which gave the Sooners possession on the Rams 17.  Fullback Frank Aiello ran for 15 from there to provide Anderson with the opportunity.

The Rams scored a major of their own on their first drive after halftime. The teams were tied with nine points each in the fourth quarter, but Sooners kicker Scott Hay edged his team ahead by earning a single point on a missed field goal, and later made a 43-yard field goal to establish the final score.

Ace Powell was the team's head coach. Running back Vern Adams won the conference's rushing title for the second year in a row, despite missing two games early in the season, with  973 yards on 148 carries. Aiello was named MVP, and Bernie Amyotte was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

Highlights from the 1979 season
This part is still under construction.  The quotes are lifted from the newspaper recap at the time.

Aug  4th- Sooners 10 @ Verdun Maple Leafs 03       W
-"A 70-yard pass and run touchdown play from Sooners quarterback Steve Wagner to rookie wide receiver Kevin Corcoran on the fifth play during the first series in the opening quarter was the difference"

Aug 25th- Sooners 24 @ London Beefeaters 04        W
-"Sooners...scored two touchdowns in the first quarter on a 54-yard interception return by Joe Menchini and a 47-yard by Vern Adams"

Sep  1st- Sooners 13 @ Hamilton Hurricanes 11      W
-"Scott Hay kicked a 37 field goal for the win...Frank Aiello took a pass from quarterback Steve Wagner and went 13 yards for a score" 

Sep 15th- Verdun Maple Leafs 16 @ Sooners 18       W
-"Scott Hay kicked a 46-yard field goal on the final play...Vern Adams accounted for the Ottawa's two first-quarter touchdowns, including one on a 49-yard passing play from quarterback Steve Wagner"

Sep 22nd- London Beefeaters 03 @ Sooners 31        W
-"Vern Adams scored on runs of 20 and three yards and Mark Preston scored on a 30-yard pass-and-run with (quarterback Duncan) Anderson in the third quarter"

Oct 13th- Brantford Bisons 03 @ Sooners 56         W
-"...Vern Adams scored touchdowns of 22, 17 and two yards, in the process of rushing for 192 yards on 24 carries"

Oct 20th- Etobicoke Argos 02 @ Sooners 25          W
(OFC quarter-final)
-"In the 4th quarter, running back Vern Adams capped a 69-yard drive with a 30-yard TD run and end Mark Preston called his own touchdown, taking a 41-yard strike from (quarterback Duncan) Anderson" 

Oct 28th- Windsor AKO Fratmen 05 @ Sooners 21      W
(OFC semi-final)
-"(Scott) Hay...accounted for 13 points - three field goals, three singles and a convert - and kept Windsor in its own zone most of the game with a 41.3 yard punting average..."

Nov  3rd- Verdun Maple Leafs 03 @ Sooners 37       W
(OFC Final, Eastern Championship)
-(Vern) Adams had touchdown sprints of 39, 69 and 58 yards and move the ball 260 yards on 24 trips."

Nov 10th- Sooners 13 vs Regina Rams 09             W
(CJFL Championship game)
-"A disappointing crowd of about 500 watched Ottawa Scott Hay kick a single and a field goal in the fourth quarter to break a 9-9 tie and permit the East to retrieve the Armadale Cup...Fumble recoveries by tackle Bernie Amyotte...and graduating linebacker Rick Sabourin led to a pair of Hay singles...