Rookie Raider turns in miraculous performance

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This article was published 17/11/2010 (5758 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was no miracle in the outcome of the first ever junior varsity high school football championship game played in Manitoba.

There was, however, one Miracle on the score sheet as the Oak Park Raiders put the finishing touches on a dominant season in the Home Run Sports Bowl.

Miracle Tamana, a Grade 10 slotback from Wolseley who was playing football for the first time this season, scored a touchdown in the Raiders’ 43-12 victory over the Grant Park Pirates on Nov. 10 at Canad Inns Stadium.

“I just love the feeling,” Tamana said after the game as he celebrated with his teammates.

Tamana was talking about his team’s victory, which wrapped up a 9-0 season that saw the Raiders outscore opponents 501-19 in the Winnipeg High School Football League’s first foray into junior varsity competition.  But he could have been talking about the journey that led him to Oak Park.

Tamana was born in Nigeria, but ended up in a refugee camp in neighbouring Benin when he was only three months old.
“I spent most of my life in a refugee camp,” he said.

Tamana and his family were finally able to immigrate to Canada in December 2006.

After playing soccer while attending Gordon Bell High School, he decided this year he wanted to play football for the first time. His first thought was to play for the Fort Garry Lions, but Tamana decided instead to join some of his friends at Oak Park.

Coach Paul Bennett helped harness Tamana’s natural ability and boundless energy, moulding him into a dangerous offensive weapon.

“He came in as an exuberant and enthusiastic kid who couldn’t keep his mouth shut,” Bennett said with a grin. “He’s raised everyone’s intensity. Our kickoff coverage (which Tamana is a major part of) is our bread and butter. He loves the game, he plays hard, and he’s an energy guy who’s brought everybody up with him.”

It didn’t hurt that Tamana was more than willing to be coached by the former CFL defensive back.

“Coach Bennett is an awesome guy,” Tamana said. “He just tells me what to do and I do exactly what he says. He knows what he’s doing.”

Kedon Sweetney led the Raiders’ attack, scoring three rushing touchdowns, while Tyson Morrissey and Braedy Will (on an interception return) also found the end zone.

With a successful first season behind him, Tamana is already looking ahead to joining Oak Park’s varsity squad in 2011.

If he does, he’ll be playing for the defending champions of the AAA Potter Division. The Raiders beat the St. Paul’s Crusaders 27-17 in the ANAVETS Bowl on Nov. 12 to win high school football’s top prize.

In other bowl action, Murdoch MacKay finished off a perfect season with an 11-4 victory over Kildonan East in the AA Vidruk Division’s Free Press Bowl, and Dakota won the A Currie Division’s Canad Inns Bowl in its first season of football, beating Daniel McIntyre 30-2.

avi.saper@canstarnews.com