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Oakville Trafalgar looks to continue Cinderella Story in GHAC Football Final

After upsetting Nelson, OT's Red Devils now face St. Thomas More of Hamilton.
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For the first time in 34 years, Oakville Trafalgar High School's Red Devils are Halton's Senior Football Champions again, after defeating perennial powerhouse Nelson in this year's iteration of the Halton Championship. While the East-Oakville school was led by a fantastic performance from Quarterback Russell Weir last week, there is a whole cast of players who will be looking to make names for themselves on Wednesday, when they will play in the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference Final in Hamilton, at 2 pm.

The Red Devils will be in for an incredible test as they line up across from the #1 ranked team in the nation - St. Thomas More. The Knights have been the preeminent team in Hamilton and provincially, having won the last 5 OFFSAA Championships.

Head Coach Guy D'Alesio gives a lot of the credit for his squad's success this year to the prowess they've displayed when in possession of the football. His quarterback Russell Weir has been instrumental in the team's performances, "he's a very smart quarterback; he understands what we're trying to accomplish if we say to him the defence is set up in 'this coverage' look here, look there. He sees it; he knows what we're talking about; he does it. He's a very special quarterback." A good quarterback is nothing without a strong offensive line, and Weir has been getting the protection he needs to operate, with a lot of that credit going to Abdul Hamzeh - which is drawing him a lot of attention from University coaches.

D'Alesio goes on to say that his receiver corps is so good that "kids who are the third-stringers would be starters in any other season," his skill position players will need to be in top form on Wednesday as the Hamiltonians have been incredibly stingy all season long, only giving up 3.6 points on average, over six games. Over the course of 6 games, the Red Devils have scored an average of 29.16 points this season.

As the saying goes - defence wins championships, and it's been defence by committee this year for OT. D'Alesio's group of "ballhawks" have managed to keep their opponents under 12 points per game. That high level will need to be upheld as they are facing an entirely different animal from anything they have seen in St. Thomas More - who offer the complete offensive package, scoring an average of 30.5 points this season per game.

If it wasn't enough that his boys are up against the top team in the country, they have to face them on their turf. D'Alesio knows his team is in for a real dogfight, so he's keeping things pretty simple as he looks to focus the squad's attention to the task at hand, "I think the important thing to remind them of is that they are playing a physical game, and we have to go out with the intention of winning every play."


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