Lancers triumph

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This article was published 07/11/2024 (513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Dakota Lancers are still the class of high school football in Manitoba.

There’s an old saying that defence wins championships, and the Lancers took that quite literally as they outlasted the Oak Park Raiders 11-3 in a gritty effort to capture the Winnipeg High School Football League AAAA crown for the second straight season at Princess Auto Stadium on Thursday.

“One-offs happen, and I think what’s cool about this is we’ve shown that we do have a process and that it works, and you can follow that process and have success,” said Lancers head coach Mitch Harrison.

“I’m a really big Kendrick (Lamar) fan… but what I wanted to emphasize to these guys right at the beginning is, ‘we gon’ be alright.’ It doesn’t matter what happens, if we follow through on what we need to do, we’re going to be OK.”

Dakota Grade 12 running back Amid Kanu accounted for the lone touchdown in the contest, a 71-yard rushing major with less than a minute remaining that put his team in the driver’s seat.

There was plenty of intrigue around what would give in a game that featured the league’s two most prolific offences and the two stingiest defences. It quickly became evident that the latter would prevail.

To put this one in perspective, the front-runner for Most Valuable Player at halftime was Lancers’ punter Preston Benjamin. Kanu claimed that award for the second straight year thanks to a strong performance in the second half.

The 12 first-half drives between the two clubs yielded six punts, a missed field goal, an interception, three turnovers on downs and a safety conceded by the Raiders.

Dakota dominated field position throughout the first two quarters and had three chances inside the Raiders’ red zone but could not capitalize on any of their opportunities. Meanwhile, the Raiders failed to cross midfield until there was 3:30 remaining in the first half.

While the Lancers never truly looked like they were about to relinquish control, at one point it looked as though it could be a night in which they would be left lamenting multiple missed opportunities if the Raiders were able to find a way to break through.

“I wouldn’t say there was doubt, I would for sure say there was a lot of frustration,” Kanu said of the mood in the offensive huddle, later crediting quarterback Rogan Vergata for keeping everyone calm. “We had a ton of opportunities to score in the end zone it just didn’t come through. But, then again, we came through.”

Another opportunity to put their stamp on the game came on the opening drive of the second half as the Lancers got as deep as the Raiders’ three-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. The Raiders followed with a punt. A missed field goal attempt by the Lancers followed.

Oak Park finally connected on a big play when quarterback Kevan Savage found top-target Nathan Esch on a 43-yard gain, which looked like it might breed enough life into the Raiders for a comeback. They ended up settling for a field goal on a 21-yard kick by Onan Furst as time expired in the third quarter.

Dakota earned a single point on a rouge the ensuing series.

Two drives later, the Raiders forced and recovered a fumble to set the offence up at midfield. Oak Park set up for a punt two plays later but was gifted a first down after the Lancers were called for roughing the kicker. Oak Park wound up attempting a long field goal for the lead but the kick missed wide left and set the Lancers up with an opportunity to ice the game.

Kanu obliged with his long touchdown run.

“On the sideline, coach told me that I’m going to bust a play and I felt it coming, as I was in the backfield I felt that one coming,” said Kanu. “I just had to do it— I had to make a play, and I did it.”

Harrison added: “Resilience is what it was. It was like running into a brick wall over and over again until finally, it cracked open. Amid, man, that kid does nothing but make plays. He put the team on his back last year in the semis and in the finals he won MVP — won MVP again — and that kid is special already.

“He’s going to be special for the rest of his life. You don’t come across athletes like that very often.”

The anticipation around this contest was palpable in the days leading up, as Dakota and Oak Park were head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in the WHSFL this season. Both clubs finished the regular season 7-0 and were nationally ranked by canadafootballchat.com, the Lancers coming in at No. 2 and the Raiders No. 6.

Oak Park was the league’s top offence with 346 points for, while the defence did not allow a point against during the regular season. Dakota was not far behind with 332 points for and just eight points against.

Elsewhere in AAAA bowl games, the Vincent Massey Vikings claimed the Virdruk Bowl (teams ranked nine to 12), the Kelvin Clippers won the Bramwell Bowl (13-16) and the Miles Mac Buckeyes won the Gustafson Bowl (17-20). Dakota also repeated its junior varsity 12s championship, the Vikings triumphed in JV nine-a-side and the Tec Voc Hornets won the AAA varsity championship.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam