The 1974 Sooners' Two-Game Playoff Series Against Hamilton

As mentioned in yesterday's post, here are the summaries of the 1974 Ottawa Sooners' two-game series against Hamilton.

November 2nd

November 2nd

The 1974 Sooners' Two-Game Playoff Series Against Niagara

This post comes on the heels of the announcement that the 1974 Ottawa Sooners are being inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.  

In looking at this site's content about that specific edition of the team, I was surprised at how thin it was. They're mentioned very little here.

Seeking to remedy that, I began to look for content from newspapers archives. I was quickly reminded why I've recorded so little. While there is plenty of information available, its quality is quite poor, as you'll see below.

Nevertheless...I added the team's first playoff game summary to the Sooners (Junior 1960-1980) page. That game was followed by a two-game series against Niagara. The first game's recap is directly below, from the Citizen. 

Chiarelli wasn't dicking around. The Sooners were far more dominant in the second game. Here's the summary of that one from the Ottawa Journal. 

This led to another two-game series, this time against Hamilton. I'll see what I can dig up about those two games. 

1980, Aug. 18th: "Airborne Sooners Blank Burlington"

2023 Ottawa Sooner Conference All-Stars

As selected by a panel of coaches within the conference, here are the Sooners who have been named to the all-star team this year.

The Sooners finished the regular season with a 4-4 record and will travel to face the St. Clair Saints (8-0) this Saturday evening at 7PM in semi-final action. The last time they met, the Saints won 28-26.  

OFC Players of the Week: Week 4

The Sooners faced a tough start to their 2023 regular season schedule, resulting in an 0-3 start, but they continued to battle and recorded their first win last weekend in no small part due to the contributions of defensive lineman Richard Graham.  His performance earned him one of the player of the week honours. 

Richard Graham - #1 -  Ottawa Sooners

The Sooners’ defensive catalyst led a hard hitting Ottawa defence to their first win of the season over the previously undefeated Quinte Skyhawks. Graham wrecked havoc as he compiled 2 quarterback sacks, 2 tackles, blocked a kick and intercepted a pass which he returned for a 72 yard touchdown. In all Graham produced 20 defensive points on the day.

Nov. 1st, 1969: Ottawa Sooners 33, Windsor AKO Fratmen 00

The game summary below appeared in the November 3rd, 1969, Ottawa Citizen. Its wonky layout made it awkward to fit on the Sooners' own page.   

Turns out they had plenty of trouble with the west, they lost 28-07 to Saskatoon two weeks later in the national championship game.

2022 Ontario Football Conference Awards

The OFC took a week off for Thanksgiving and now prepare to head into its playoffs. They took the opportunity to hand out some hardware in the meantime.

Let's start with the following players that have been named to the Conference's All-Star team:

QB Owen Cowan
WR Nathan Coleman
OL Jett Hudson
DL Richard Graham 
LB Shawn Charles 
    
Now Owen Cowan actually shared the all-star team quarterback honour with another player (from St. Clair) but he nailed down the offensive rookie of the year award for himself. 

Over the course of the regular season, Cowan completed 92 of 172 attempts for 1,254 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions.

And to cap it all off, the man responsible for the team's resurgence also got a well-deserved pat on the back.

Congratulations all, it's been great to have the Sooners back. 

OFC Defensive Player of the Week: LB Richard Graham

As he has done all season for Ottawa, Richard Graham was all over the field making plays for the Sooners.  In addition to his 3 solo tackles, Graham picked off a pass that he returned 51 yards to the house for a touchdown.

Sooners' Keyshawn Upshaw-Tynes is an OFC Special Teams Player of the Week

As we look forward to a Sooners game at the GTA Grizzlies today, let's look back at one of the award recipients following last week's action. The text and graphic are from the Ontario Football Conference's Instagram account.

Upshaw-Tynes provided more than enough scoring all by himself for the win as he returned two kicks for touchdowns.  The Ottawa rookie returned 1 kickoff for 88 yards and a touchdown and then later, adding insult to injury, he returned a missed field goal 115 yards for a touchdown. Upshaw-Tynes also returned a punt for a measly 10 yards. For the game Keyshawn returned 3 kicks for a combined 213 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Sooners LB Quinton Hodgson named OFC Defensive Player of the Week

The Ontario Football Conference announced it's Players of the Week earlier a couple of days ago and Ottawa Sooners linebacker Quinton Hodgson was among those honoured.  

In an upset win on the road in Hamilton there was no bigger play than the 85 yard fumble return for a touchdown by Quinton Hodgson. The fumble return for a touchdown by the Ottawa linebacker took what was going to be sure points for the Hurricanes and turned it into a 7 point lead for Ottawa that proved to be the difference in this hard fought battle. Hodgson also contributed an additional 3 tackles on the day.

The Sooners are currently 2-1 and their defeat of the Hamilton Hurricanes on the road, by a score of 28-21, enabled them to crack the CJFL's power rankings at #10. 

Sept. 10th, 1994: Ottawa Sooners 25, Hamilton Hurricanes 13

Today is the Canadian Junior Football League's National Signing Day. In their own words "the day in which players can finally sign with a CJFL club. When a player signs he is essentially signing for his entire junior football career as the player then becomes the property of that team."

I hope the Sooners take advantage of this event to market themselves a little bit as they continue their rebuild after two seasons away from the field.  As we wait for results, here's a recently-added game summary from 1994 that I came across while looking up information about that year's Rough Riders squad. Enjoy.

CJFL Spotlight on Gord Hudson

Following the announcement that Gord Hudson was named Head Coach of the Ottawa Sooners, the CJFL turned their spotlight on him and produced the interview below. Have a listen. 

Ottawa Sooners Coaching Announcement

OTTAWA - We are proud to announce our Head Coach for this year's CJFL season, Coach Gordon Hudson.

With a stellar repertoire, Coach Gord, a former semi-professional football player, has been affiliated with the Ottawa Sooners Team from as early as his younger playing days. He played two solid seasons with the team, appearing in the National Championships 4 years straight, leading to a win in 1984.

He is also seen to have coached the Ottawa Sooners Midget Program in 1996, after receiving his level 2 coaching certification.

We are proud to have him on board, and we are confident he will lead the team to victory.

"Ottawa Sooners Under New Ownership"

The following article was written by Everett Hanmer. You can read the complete version on the Ontario Football Conference website.

The new owner of the Ottawa Sooners wants to bring a national championship to the city. Entrepreneur and Businessman Kevin Ling now owns the organization, taking over from John and Tammy Allaire.

Ling has been a fan of football his whole life and grew up playing the sport. Ling is from Burlington which is where he was first introduced to the Sooners. “We used to play the Sooners every year when I played junior ball. The Sooners were familiar to me as an opponent.”

Ling knows that the Sooners are a part of the football culture in Ottawa. “When people think about football in this town they think about the Redblacks and the Ottawa (Rough Riders) and if you’re not talking about them, you’re talking about the Ottawa Sooners.” 

Since taking ownership Ling has wasted no time, as he already has a number of candidates he is planning on interviewing for the head coaching position. 

Ling says that giving back will be a part of the Sooners. “I think as a team that will be a big part of what we do to rebuild this organization because the Ottawa Sooners are part of the City of Ottawa.”

Ling was recently on TSN1200 to talk about this. I tried, but failed, to embed the player into this post so I can only provide this link. 

This is comforting being that I feared the Sooners might be done for the foreseeable future. I would have hated to see a 60-year old club just disappear unceremoniously. I'm hoping the club can participate in other age categories as well, but one thing at a time. For now, welcome back to the junior ranks, Sooners! 

No Junior Football in 2021

The following is copied from the Sooners Facebook group. 

We regret to announce that the Ottawa CJFL Sooners team of the OFC will not be participating in the 2021 football season. Due to the tremendous uncertainty with the ever changing Novel Coronavirus landscape, The Ottawa Sooners have chosen to remain responsible for the health and well being of our players, staff and volunteers.

Several factors lead us to make this difficult decision, the main factor being that as an Ottawa based club, our participation would require several away games with visits spanning across several public health units in Ontario.

As vaccinations progress in Ontario and our active recruiting efforts continue, the Ottawa Sooners have high expectations for an amazing return to action in the 2022 season.

Although this was a difficult decision to make, the Ottawa Sooners feel that is paramount to put the health and safety of our players and their families, our coaching staff and our volunteers first.

The Ottawa Sooners have, alternately, chosen to implement an intensive training and team building program that will allow us to better prepare for next season without excessive exposure. This program will coincide with our local Covid19 guidelines.

We would like to assure everyone in the CJFL and OFC that the Ottawa Sooners are committed and excited for our return to the gridiron in the 2022 season.

We appreciate the continued support and we thank you in advance of your understanding.

The Ottawa Sooners look forward to seeing everyone in 2022!!

The Ottawa Jr. Riders cancelled their season (or rather, the QMJFL did) earlier this year as well so that's it for that.

I noticed a couple of weeks back that the Sooners no longer appear on the OPFL website as a varsity club, either, so it seemed likely that this was going to be the path they would follow and it's very, very unfortunate. 

A Couple of 1991 Game Recaps

The Ottawa U. Gee-Gees knew how to pick 'em in the 1991 season. They won only two games out of seven, but one was the Panda game against Carleton and in the other, they bounced #2-ranked Queen's four weeks into the season. 

While gathering those 1991 Gee-Gees scores, I happened across a summary of a Sooners playoff victory and so copied that one too and am about to add it to their page. The final score for that one was 18-12.

2009: Sooners Return To, And Win, The OFC

"Hey, did you miss us?"

I had been working on locating some past results for the Ottawa Sooners. I added a few more from the 2004 and 2005 Quebec Junior Football League seasons, the point I'd reached in chronological order, but got bored with that and jumped ahead a bit.

In 2009, the Sooners returned to the Ontario Football Conference and once again gained the opportunity to play for a national championship, something the QJFL did not offer. They won the Conference's championship in their first year back but unfortunately bowed out to Edmonton in national play.

The game summary below is from the OFC championship game. The Sooners page now also includes the summary for the team's first game back in the OFC, a 41-14 beating of the Hamilton Hurricanes, and the OFC semi-final defeat of the London Beefeaters. 

Just Added: 1984 Ottawa Sooners Results

I have been trying to identify a pivotal moment which caused coverage of junior football in town to start circling the drain.

Starting from their first season in 1960, as the Sooners' range of competition grew, so did the coverage. They gradually went from playing for a city championship to playing for a national crown and were competitive throughout most of that time. The media interest increased accordingly, naturally.

1984 was a championship year for them but I noticed that at points during the regular season, certain game recaps were suddenly quite brief. Where they normally could take up a third of a page in the Ottawa Citizen sports section, some were now only deemed worthy of a handful of short paragraphs. Few articles included photography, whereas for many years the majority did.

In 1984, the Sooners had not lost a regular season game since September of 1982, occasionally put up scores in the 70s and 80s, and won the conference with two games left to play. I suspect that their degree of dominance became a bit ho-hum for local media. Games won by 60 don't generate much excitement and playing one team four times out of nine (as was the case with the Montreal Jr. Concordes) must have become tedious as well.

The playoff created a spark, of course, and for a while there coverage was back to the way it had been for the past decade or so. The recap of the Eastern Championship game below is a good example. 
 

There are other factors in the decline in media interest over the years, no doubt. The team would have some rather ordinary seasons later in the 80s and then move to the Quebec league, meaning that they would no longer compete nationally. Their visibility being so reduced probably lead to their coverage being scaled back.

The Sooners page now includes all their game result for that season, the conference all-star team selections and portion of a recap of the national championship game. I'll keep working my way up to the present until the reduced coverage dictates that I can't.

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...