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A roller-coaster ride of a season ended on a high Tuesday for the Herman Green Griffins.
After starting the season 0-2, the Green Griffins rebounded and capped things off with a dominating 35-0 win over the Toronto St. Michael’s Kerry Blues in the OFSAA Independent Bowl at Acumen Stadium.
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“We started 0-2, we tried, we practiced, we had a couple bad ones, we just kept trying to push forward and gain momentum every week,” Herman’s Donovan Osman said. “We tried to keep coming out on top.”
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After a 3-3 regular season, the Green Griffins stunned previously unbeaten Holy Names in the WECSSAA AAA final only to lose the SWOSSAA championship to Chatham Ursuline. However, because the OFSAA Bowl Series is being played in Windsor, SWOSSAA was given a second entry and that went to the Green Griffins.
“Winning WECSSAA really improved our confidence,” Herman’s Keyanni Elliott said. “The downfall to Chatham (Ursuline), they’re a great team and we just underestimated them.
“Coming to OFSAA, we knew we had to redeem ourselves. We knew we can’t be looked at as ‘They’re just given OFSAA, they’re nothing,’ and we had to show everyone around the country that Herman’s a great team.”
The Green Griffins used a dominating ground game to control Tuesday’s match throughout. Herman attempted just two passes in the game while grinding out 272 yards rushing on 41 carries for an average of over 6.6 yards per carry.
“The running game, we’ve got a lot of great running backs” said Elliott, who finished with a team-leading 91 yards on 13 carries. “Anyone having a mishap, we can always substitute someone in to completely change the pace of the game. We have a lot of speed backs and power backs, so it keeps teams guessing on what’s really going to happen.”
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Elliott got the Green Griffins rolling late in the first quarter as he cut left and scored from 29 yards out.
“It means everything,” Herman’s Donovan Osman, who rushed 87 yards on nine carries, said of the win on a snow-covered field in windy conditions. “The football field’s my second home. As soon as the game started, we wanted to comeback form losing to Chatham and come out on top.”
The Green Griffins took control of the game with two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the opening half. Receiver Malachi Jackson moved under centre to run the wildcat and scored from a yard out. A quick stop on defence and a short punt enable the Green Griffins to go up 21-0 with 30 seconds to play as Tashon French-Robert scored from two-yards out.
“The conditions didn’t bother us,” said French-Robert, who finished with 83 yards on 15 carries. “We showed up. I feel great. I just had to work hard and the outcome was perfect.”
Elliott intercepted a St. Michael’s pass and returned it 42 yards to the Toronto three-yard line. Herman head coach Harry Lumley left him in the game to run in his second touchdown on the next play.
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“Ah, the pick, I don’t know what happened,” Elliott said. “I thought I had (the touchdown). I saw coach starting to wave me off and I said, ‘I got to have it.’ This is my last year and great to end it on a great note.”
French-Robert ran in his second touchdown from three yards out with under three minutes to play. Kage Neff converted all five scores and the Green Griffins held at the goal line to compete the shutout as time expired.
“They deserved what they got,” Lumley said of his team. “They worked their tails off for it. I don’t know, our record was only 6-4, but we primed for the end of the year and got here.
“We’re here, I’m disappointed we didn’t win SWOSSAA. We didn’t play well against Chatham (Ursuline) and I’m not taking anything away from them, but this (an OFSAA win) is what we want at the end of the year and we got it.”
jpparker@postmedia.com
twitter.com/winstarparker
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