John Whyte, head coach of the Immaculata Saints, considers the season a success despite the team’s loss in the finals.
There usually isn’t much optimism around a team that finds itself on the losing side of a championship game.
However, after falling 14-13 in the Tier 2 Ottawa-area high school championship against Sir Wilfrid Laurier on Nov. 12, the Immaculata Saints football team has remained positive, calling their season a “success” and an example of how far the young program has come since it was founded in 2006.
“We made it to the final. That’s all you can ask for,” says Saints head coach John Whyte. “It was close right up to the end.”
In its first six years as a program, Immaculata has had consistent success on the field. Over that time, the Saints have made six trips to the playoffs, going to the semi-finals five times and the championship game twice.
“(When Immaculata started the program in 2006) 14 guys showed up to our first practice, not a lot of talent,” says Saints defensive co-ordinator Ben Seaman. “(Now,) we’ve become known as a football school – and a football school that every year is going to be hard to play against.”
Seaman says that, although the team lost, making it to the finals is a solid achievement. He adds that most teams don’t make it to the championship game twice in six years, let alone twice the first six years as a program.
He says that the Saints team, which sports a 22-7-1 record in its last five years, has shown it can compete with more established programs with its consistent runs deep into the playoffs.
He says playoff wins against a first-place All Saints team in 2006 and against rival St. Patrick’s in 2010 have helped foster a “hard-nosed” identity for the team – no easy feat for a school that until 1978, when it was still located on Bronson Avenue, was an all-girls institution.
“I think we’ve gained the respect of the city,” Seaman says.
In this year’s final, Immaculata looked to be in line for a win late in the game when defensive halfback Chad Ouellette put the team up 13-7 with a 110-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
However, on the next possession, the Laurier Lancers marched down the field and scored on a two-yard run up the middle that put them ahead for good.
“Their line was bigger and stronger than ours, and that’s how they won the game,” Seaman says.
The Saints struggled to keep up with a high-powered Lancers running game anchored by Uyo Akpan, who was named the game’s most valuable player.
“We played as a team, overcame tough obstacles and we were able to make the Tier 2 finals,” says Oullette.
“Although we didn’t come out on top, our team played a great game and I’m proud of each and every one of us.”
The Grade 12 student adds that making it to the championship proved the dedication of the entire football team, which has been a big factor in their success.
“What sets Mac apart from other teams is our drive to keep going,” he says.
“We don’t see ourselves as solely a football team. We are a family and we stick together.”
Whyte echoes that sentiment, saying he attributes the team’s success to the “dedicated core” of coaches, without whom “a myriad of things” would go wrong.
He says that although next year will mark the start of a “transition period” for the team as 12 starters are graduating, he expects the Saints to continue to succeed.