BRANTFORD – It was a tight defensive affair but in the end the BCI Sr. Mustangs defeated the Assumption Lions 10-8 at the Kiwanis Field at Pauline Johnson High School.
Jordan Charter, head coach of the Mustangs, was over the moon with his team’s Championship win.
“We had to beat a really good team to get here and we had to beat a good physical and athletic team today,” he told media after the game. “We’ve come a long way this season and it feels great to have won today.”
The Lions got the first chances after a big kickoff runback to the Mustangs’ 40-yard line, but the BCI defence held them off forcing the Lions to punt.
A bad snap put the Mustangs deep in their own zone but BCI got themselves out of trouble. Late in the first quarter the Mustangs started to come on when quarterback Josh Downy competed a pass to Ben McAlpine that put the Mustangs deep into Lions territory.
Downy ran the ball into the end zone himself, scoring the first touchdown of the game. After the successful convert, BCI held a 7-0 lead.
Scoring opportunities were denied by solid defending teams from both sides of the ball. A touchback from a punt that went out of bounds put Assumptions first point on the scoreboard.
The score held until the fourth quarter when Adrian Popielec-Henry, broke through for a long downfield run for a touchdown, drawing the teams even at 7-7.
With the convert plus the touchback point, Assumption was leading 8-7, but Downey and McAlpine connected again and after a long run found themselves within field-goal range. Mustangs’ kicker Josh Macklin made it count and the Mustangs were up 10-8 and the clock running down with under five minutes left.
It all came down to a field goal attempt by the Lions with seconds left. It missed and the Mustangs held on for the Championship win.
