The Burlington Spartans and the defending Limestone Champion Ottawa Mustangs engaged in one of the closest and dramatic elite finals to date. The road to their eventual showdown was an interesting one. Let’s see what happened in the men’s Elite playoffs, beginning with the quarter-finals.

Quarter Finals

Toronto Trojans 23 vs Ottawa Nepean Canadians 22

Burlington Spartans 41 vs Almonte Hellcats 21

Burlington Piranhas 24 vs Montreal Maroons 22

Ottawa Mustangs 20 vs Hamilton Hornets 6

The first game featured a Toronto Trojan upset win over the Ottawa Nepean Canadians. Although ONC all star quarterback Rod Moors put together a fantastic last minute drive to tie the game, it would be Sean Simon’s Trojans pulling out the win in sudden death converts. As mentioned on the message boards, the Trojans had an extended post-game celebration. Understanding the magnitude of their victory, the Canadians, in their classy fashion waited those many moments before shaking hands in congratulations. Although I was just ending my game at the time on another field, we could hear the crowd reaction across the fields. Congratulations Trojans!

Semi Finals

Ottawa Mustangs 30 vs Toronto Trojans 28

Burlington Spartans 28 vs Burlington Piranhas 14

Finals

Burl T.Litzen Spartans 22 vs Magellan Mustangs 17

The Spartans had a fairly easy ride to the playoffs, where as the Mustangs faced some stiff round robin competition in the up-and-coming Montreal Maroons and the continually-improving Toronto Trojans. Both teams had their hands full come playoff time.

Despite some close match ups, controversial calls, and or no calls (It looks as though I missed a crucial 3rd down holding infraction in the Piranhas semi's) for both squads, they would take to the Elite stage in a 72-minute championship extravaganza. Elite championship games don’t always live up to extravaganza hype, but this one certainly did. In fact, this game would come down to the very last play before a winner would be declared.

Even though both teams struggled offensively (no doubt due to the stellar defenses of both teams), the Mustangs would put together a fantastic last minute scoring drive. Shades of their victory over the Canadians last year, Mustang quarterback John Davidson would launch a perfect two point conversion pass to his loyal and clutch receiver, Serge Brunet, to take the lead.

With barely any time left on the clock, however, The Spartans put together a fantastic last minute drive of their own. Infiltrating the Mustang red zone, the Spartans found themselves in a third down situation and with no time left on the clock. Throwing a perfect pass of his own, Rob Houston connected with Brandon Little in the endzone to capture their second consecutive title of the season. As mentioned on the homepage, the Spartans have also taken over first place in the Provincial standings, congratulations gentlemen!!