Fresh off their three consecutive Canadian championships, the Burlington Spartans were the favourites heading into the 2010 Trillium Tour season. When the Toronto Trojans earned a one-sided elite title over them at the first stop, it looked like those two teams would be the frontrunners for first place.

Five Tour stops later saw early expectations tossed out the window as the Capitals and Gaels exploded upwards, dominating the ranks to finish so closely in the standings that only a single point decided their final placement after five head-to-head games were broken down.

The Capitals came out on top of that breakdown, thanks in part to their strong finish in Unionville, where they steamrolled their way to a third consecutive championship meeting with the Gaels. Unlike their previous one-sided loss at the Ottawa stop, the Capitals nearly doubled the Gaels 28 to 15 to earn a second elite Tour title and a 1st place finish in the Province.

Congratulations on your outstanding season Capitals and Gaels. You’ve made the Provincials more interesting than ever!

Quarter-Finals

Kitchener Gaels 41 vs Miss Rebels 18

Ott Capitals 49 vs Scar Steelers 24

Hamilton Piranhas 23 vs Ham Dolphins 14

Burlington Spartans 30 vs T.O. Trojans 23

Semi-Finals

Kitchener Gaels 20 vs Burlington Spartans 14

Ottawa Capitals 37 vs Ham Piranhas 20

Finals

Ottawa Capitals 28 vs Kitchener Gales 15

In an effort to save time and space, the Hamilton Dolphins' Ottawa showing wasn’t mentioned in the newsletter. While the Underdogs walked away with the A championship, one of their most difficult tests came from the Dolphins in quarter-final play. In fact, it was an interference call on the last play of the game that gave the 7 point trailing Underdogs a second chance to avoid elimination, as they were unsuccessful in their initial attempt to score. The U-Dogs scored on the next play and won the game with a two point conversion.

The Dolphins found themselves in a similar position in Unionville, only this time the stakes were far higher as it was the A championships, and they were the team trailing by 7 points on the last play of the game. Their opponents were the multi elite champion Toronto Trojans, adding greatly to the odds.

When situations are this close, any outcome is possible. Even an obvious incompletion can become a touchdown. Throwing up a last play prayer, the Dolphins looked to be finished, as a well positioned Trojan player got his hands on the ball. Batting the ball to the ground with authority is commonplace in such situations, if only to eliminate any possibility of a completion. This is exactly what the Trojan defender did, however, to his and everyone’s surprise, the ball was batted directly into the hands of a Dolphin, giving the Hamilton crew a chance at victory.

Paying forward what happened to them in Ottawa, the Dolphins scored a two point conversion cleanly to not only win the game in an incredibly exciting fashion, but to also earn their first major title of the season. Congratulations guys!

Quarter-Finals

Toronto Trojans 40 vs Mtl Hitmen 6

Hamilton Dolphins 30 vs Miss Enforcers 21

T.O. Dirrty Birdz 14 vs Scarborough Steelers 6

Ham Chargers 29 vs Miss Rebels 14

Semi-Finals

Toronto Trojans 23 vs Hamilton Chargers 21

Hamilton Dolphins 27 vs T.O. Dirrty Birdz

Finals

Hamilton Dolphins 34 vs Toronto Trojans 33

After winning the A title in Ottawa, the Ottawa Underdogs opted out of Unionville due to a lack of available players. Low numbers were nothing new for this squad, as they played much of last season with 10 or less per tourney, so when a team dropped out at the last minute, the U-Dogs rounded up 9 guys to fill the void.

Earning consecutive victories in round-robin, the U-Dogs were forced into BB after a 23 to 16 Dirrty Birdz preliminary loss. They got back to their winning ways in play-off action against the Scarborough Raiders, in a game that saw tempers flare, with cooler heads eventually prevailing, a very good thing for the under-muscled Ottawa crew.

The U-Dogs won that game to advance and avenge consecutive past Tour defeats over the Cobras and X-Men to earn a second straight title. Congratulations guys!

Quarter-Finals

Toronto X-Men 30 vs Burl Mandingos 15

S.O. Cobras 20 vs T.O. Hurricanes 13

Ott Underdogs 31 vs Scar Raiders 14

T.O. Hustlin’ Owls 30 vs St Cat’s Hellcats 7

Semi-Finals

Toronto X-Men 29 vs T.O. Hustlin’ Owls 6

Ott Underdogs 24 vs S.O. Cobras 12

Finals

Ott Underdogs 29 vs Toronto X-Men 6

The Hamilton Hogz and and Kitchener Stampeders were up against solid competition in tier 2 round-robin play. While both teams posted 0-2 records, victory was always within reach.

Both teams exercised offensive capacities in the quarter-finals. I’m tempted to say that things slowed down in the semi-finals for them, but I don’t have the exact scores, other than the Stampeders semi-final 12-0 triumph over the King Gators.

Regardless of the scores, the Stamps and Hogz advanced to the finals to compete for their highest title. While the Hogz earned the championship in the end, it was one of those win-win scenarios for both teams, giving each squad much momentum heading into the Provincials. Congratulations on your strong finish guys!

Quarter-Finals

Ham Hogz 31 vs Burl Squires 14

Miss King Gators 33 vs Burl Delta Squad 0

Kitch Stampeders 25 vs Toronto Lancers 7

Oshawa Buckeyes 26 vs Miss Punishers 6

Semi-Finals

Kitch Stampeders 12 vs Miss King Gators 0

Ham Hogz 6 vs Oshawa Buckeyes 0

Finals

Hamilton Hogz 6 vs Kitch Stampeders 0

The Ottawa Devils' days of domination appeared to be over once Montreal’s Fleur De Lys (FDL) broke beyond their contender status with a national championship last year and multiple one-sided performances this season. FDL earned those one-sided victories over every prominent Ontario team, including the Devils in that 28 to 9 Ottawa stop humbling.

Like all true champions, the Devils embraced this adversity with new found motivation. They opened the Unionville stop with three straight preliminary victories, scoring 105 combined points to advance to elite elimination match-ups.
For the second time in the tournament, the Devils faced the Landell Lightning in the semi’s, where they earned an even more convincing win to meet the Fleur De Lys in the finals once again.

While the FDL weren’t quite as dominating leading up to this battle, thanks in part to a shorter bench, they still maintained their unbeaten streak, earning four straight victories.
Everyone expected a more evenly contested rematch, however, no one expected the Devils to pull off a 32 to 0 one-sided performance. I’m sure the Fleur De Lys were equally as shocked. Regardless, the Devils are back in the top spot heading into the Ontario championships.

Congratulations on a perfect end to your season ladies! Unfortunately, we have to wait an extra tournament for the rubber match, as both the Devils and FDL will compete in their separate Provincial championships. Good luck to both teams, we can’t wait until you meet again, fully equipped!

Semi-Finals

Ottawa Devils 35 vs Landell Lightning 0

Montreal FDL 33 vs T.O. Wolverines 14

Finals

Ottawa Devils 32 vs Mtl FDL 0

Posting a respectful 1-1 round-robin showing, the Toronto Shock were sent to the A side after a preliminary one-sided loss to the Landell Lightning.

Returning to old form in play-off action, the Shock blanked the Rebels 29 to 0 in the semi’s, which propelled them to their third championship contest. Lying in wait were the Montreal Warriors, who were impressive early with their 2-0 round-robin results.

In the Shock’s previous championship efforts they were always held scoreless. In these finals, however, there was no shortage of offensive output. The Shock controlled the ball late in the game to seal the victory and earn their first title of the season. Congratulations ladies!

Semi-Finals

Mtl Warriors 13 vs Toronto Rockets 6

Toronto Shock 29 vs Toronto Rebels 0

Finals

Toronto Shock 25 vs Mtl Warriors 20

With their 1-1 round-robin record, the Scarborough Lady Raiders earned their way to the BB semi-finals. In a decisive 29 to 9 result, the Raiders defeated the Toronto Jaguars to make their way to the championship game for the third time this season.

While this was a closer and lower scoring affair, the Raiders were still able to walk away with the victory, earning their second BB title of the year. Congratulations on your excellent season ladies!

Semi-Finals

London Rebels 13 vs Mtl Coyotes 0

Scar Lady Raiders 29 vs Toronto Jaguars 9

Finals

Scar Lady Raiders 14 vs London Rebels 7

The Toronto Assassins won both tournaments they competed in this year by playing stingy defensive ball and scoring enough points when they had to.

Nothing changed in Unionville as the Assassins held all of their opponents scoreless until the championship game. There, they faced the Hamilton Shockers who posted 16 points.

Scoring 28 themselves, the Assassins closed their 2010 Trillium Tour with a third straight title. Congratulations on your stellar season ladies!

Quarter-Finals

Toronto Assassins 12 vs Toronto Venom 0

Hamilton Shockers 18 vs Toronto Falcons 0

Semi-Finals

Toronto Assassins 24 vs Scar Mavericks 0

Hamilton Shockers 13 vs T.O. Landell Thunder 6

Finals

Toronto Assassins 28 vs Hamilton Shockers 16

In their first two Tour appearances, the newly formed Hamilton Boilermakers made consecutive championship appearances. Failing to build on that experience, the Boilermakers were exited from the Kingston Limestone in the quarter-finals.

Opting out of the Ottawa stop, the refreshed Boilermakers made a third championship appearance where they stopped the Oshawa Sun Devils with a convincing 27 to 6 decision to finally earn their first title.

Congratulations on your well played inaugural Tour season guys and good luck at the Provincials!

Semi-Finals

Ham Boilermakers 6 vs Markham Mustangs 0

Oshawa Sun Devils 20 vs Burl Renegades 12

Finals

Ham Boilermakers 27 vs Oshawa Sun Devils 6

The Burlington Broncos made their first 2010 championship appearance at the Kingston stop. Deciding to skip the Ottawa top (pattern here?) the Broncos were still able to carry their momentum into Unionville, albeit after a rough start.

Going 0-2 in round-robin play, the Broncos rebounded to put together consecutive play-off victories, earning their first title of the season. Congratulations guys!

Semi-Finals

Killer Beeezzz 24 vs Miss Thundercats 0

Burl Broncos 14 vs St Cat’s Dirty Birds

Finals

Burl Broncos 13 vs Osh Killer Beeezzz 10