Sept. 13th, 1964: "Trojans Still Undefeated, Sooners Win Over Lions"

A few recaps from games played in the early 60s are being added to the IJFL page this morning and the ones displayed below will be linked to it shortly. Being that it is particularly informative, including standings, scoring summaries, etc., I thought is warranted a bit more prominence. It originally appeared in the following day's Ottawa Citizen. 

Dan Dever's name might jump out for some. He played with the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1968 to 1973, winning three Grey Cups along the way.  

The suggestion that injuries might prove costly to the Trojans was prophetic. They lost their two remaining regular season games then were skunked by the Sooners in a two-game playoff series to the tune of 57-13.

Just Added: 1962 IJFL Game Summaries

The IJFL, the Ottawa Journal and the Ottawa Citizen made it relatively simple to gather some info about every game played in the four-team junior league that year. 

The league set its schedule so that all four team would play on the same days, usually on Sundays. As a result, the two newspapers at the time would cover both games in one article. I didn't have to find the Sooners game versus Gatineau then hunt down St. Bonaventure vs Hull, they were both in the same place. Handy!

I've tracked down and copied the articles which I felt did the better job of providing a detailed recap for each set of games, right from the first week of the season through to the two-game final, won in dominant fashion by the Ottawa Sooners.

I do wish they'd have included more photography. They only seemed to do so after the first weekend of action but on the upside, it offered a rare look at the St. Bonaventure Rough Riders.

St. Bonaventure was an interesting little team that sadly did not last long. The Sooners were the dominant club in this league but from time to time, St. Bonaventure would rise up and punch them in the mouth. In 1962, the Sooners posted a 9-1 record and the loss was by 14-12 to these Rough Riders. Being that the Sooners only began play in 1960, St. Bonaventure is probably the first true rival in their history.

The Rough Riders would change their name to Ottawa Trojans and play two more season before fading away. Because of a mention of them under the Trojans name in a previous post, the tag over on the right column under "Teams" for them is "Ottawa Trojans (Jr)". 

More Trojans: The Junior Version of 1964

Last night I was pleased to locate more information about a Trojans team that essentially launched the Midget level in Ottawa.

Today, we're going to find out more about a junior team that also bore that name and similarly kicked off their existence with an impressive victory over a defending champion.

These Trojans differ in that they were already established on some level but took on a new identity in joining the Interprovincial Junior Football League.

The Trojans defeated the Ottawa Sooners in their first game.

The name Dan Dever should be familiar, he won three Grey Cups with the Ottawa Rough Riders between 1968 and 1973.

The Trojans won five straight games at the start of the season but lost the final two of the regular season then got clobbered by the Sooners in a 2-game playoff series.

Aug 23rd: Trojans 13, Ottawa Sooners 06
Aug 30th: Trojans 12, Easton Chargers 07
Sep  6th: Trojans 32, Eastview Lions 00
Sep  9th: Trojans 28, Eastview Lions 00
Sep 13th: Trojans 19, Mont Royal Lions 06
Sep 20th: Trojans 16, Montreal NDG Maple Leafs 34
Sep 27th: Trojans 07, Ottawa Sooners 21 

Oct 11th: Trojans 00, Ottawa Sooners 19 (Div. Finals, Game 1)
Oct 18th: Trojans 13, Ottawa Sooners 38 (Div. Finals, Game 2) 

Unfortunately, the Trojans would never duplicate their early success. They struggled a great deal in 1965, going winless (0-8), and were out of the league before the start of the 1966 season.