FOOTBALL

The Robert F. Hall Wolfpack Football teams played their first games of the playoffs on Thursday November 3 and Friday November 4.  On Thursday, the First Place Juniors hosted the St. Joan of Arc Arcangels.  The game was a close affair in the early going.  The Arcangels struck first on a long touchdown, but the Hall offense was able to march the ball down the field to culminate with a touchdown by runningback Curtis Fillier.  The score remained tied at 7 - 7 until the 3rd Quarter.  At that point, the game would change when the JOA defence would stop the Wolfpack offense on a 3rd and 2 situation.  The Arcangels would score on the next possession to take a 14 - 7 lead.  The Wolfpack's lack of depth would show, as the undermanned squad would not be able to mount a comeback and would eventually fall by score of 27 - 7.  This was a transition year for Hall, and we were even doubting last June whether or not we would be able to field a junior team, but we were able to get 32 students for the team.  Some, including Curtis Fillier, Nathan Small, Dalton Lisso  and Jake Monk will be heading up to Senior, but led by Grade nines such as Jake Federlie and Quinton Davis, next year's juniors could still be a strong team. 
 
On Friday November 4, the Senior Wolfpack, who ended up 2nd in the North Division behind Mayfield, but were seeded 5th in ROPSSAA, travelled down to Mississauga to play the Father Michael Goetz Gators in quarterfinal action.  The Gators struck first on a long punt return to take a 7 - 0 lead in the first quarter.  The Gators would strike again on a long pass, and after missing the convert, would have a 13 - 0 lead.  Cue the comeback for Hall.  With time running out in the first half, quarterback Andrew Tee would lead the Hall offense on a long drive behind the punishing running of J.D. Cameron and Brad Lumsden.  They would cap it off with a touchdown by Cameron to make the score at Halftime 13 - 6.  The Hall running game would continue to dominate in the second half, as Cameron and Lumsden, supported by Josh Durette and Nick Pedicelli would continue to shred the Gator defence, with Cameron scoring again to make the score 13 - 12 as Hall would miss both converts.  The Hall defence would continue to play well in the second half, shutting down the Gator offence, but they would be victimized once again by the long pass as Goetz would score again to take a 20 - 12 lead.  With time running down in the 4th quarter, Tee Lucas Valerio with a long pass, and after a good run by Craig Myers, Cameron would score his third touchdown of the game to make the score 20 - 18.  Hall would attempt a two-point conversion, but would be stopped on the one yard line with just over a minute left.  Hall would attempt an onside kick, but the ball ended up being just one inch too far for Valerio to grab.  The Gator offence would be able to run out the clock and hold onto a hard fought 20 - 18 victory. 
 
After a great season for the program, the loss in both quarterfinals left the Hall players with a bitter sense of dissappointment.  After the debacle of Friday Night Lights, the Hall players really wanted another shot at the top ranked Mayfield, who had advanced to the semifinals on Thursday with their 7 - 0 victory over Turner Fenton.  Hall will be saying goodbye to a number of seniors, most notably Kevin McClelland, Lucas Valerio, Craig Myers, Ben McCartney, Lukas Kumer and Ron DiPalma, who was injured in the Sandalwood game and was unable to play in the playoffs.  I have coached these young men for the last 2 or 3 years and it has been my honour to watch them mature from the young boys they were in Grade 11 to the men they are now.  Ron DiPalma in particular, I have coached for the last 5 years between baseball and football, and a finer team captain and natural leader I have not seen in all my years of coaching.  They will by sorely missed by Robert F. Hall as they are a credit to their families and to their communities.  Lastly, I would like to thank the community coaches who have helped out the Hall Football program.  With the departure of coaches such as Phil D'Amico and Dave Angeles to St. Michael, Hall was down to only two teachers to coach two teams in Coach Paul van Heukelom and myself.  Leonard Tee was able to come out this year to assist, and Principal Ed McMahon has always been out to support when he can, but we have had to depend on the community coaches a great deal the last two seasons.  Former Trustee Sandro Scerni was the first community coach that we ever had, and he set the tone for the for the Wolfpack program.  His departure two years ago was a huge blow to the program when he took a job at St. Martins in Mississauga and this year he is at St. Marcillenus.  Five years ago, Glen McClellland came on board, first to help with the Junior program, and then the last two with the Senior program.  His guidance and expertise has been the backbone of the Hall defence over the years.  Last year, Craig Monk came on board to help out with the Juniors and this year he was joined by James Fillier.  Ryan Gosse and Michael Dadzie, both former Wolfpack players, also came out to help with the Seniors.  Robert F. Hall owes a huge debt to these men who came out every day from mid-August to November to help coach.  Without them, Robert Hall would not have a junior and senior program, so to say that their help has been greatly appreciated would be an understatement.  Coach van Heukelom and myself look forward to working with these fine members of our local community in the future to ensure that the Hall football program remains strong in the years to come as Hall sees its final transitions from the school of 2000 that we once were to the school of 1,100 students that we are now.  

JUNIOR FOOTBALL

The Junior Football Team ended their season yesterday, November 3, 2011 with a loss in the quarter finals against St. Joan of Arc. At half time the score was 7 to 7 but due to injury and fatigue the team could no longer stop the St. Joan of Arc’s offence. Great determination was exhibited by the following players who played both offence and defense Jake Smith, Cam Gardilcic, Connor Reiners, Jake Monk, Curtis Fillier, Jake Fetterly, Brodie Lavoie and Dalton Lissio. Mr. Van Heukelom would like to congratulate all players for an outstanding season. All players must return their equipment during lunch today.

SENIOR FOOTBALL

On Friday, October 28^th, the Wolfpack Senior Football team played what could be their final home game of the season when they hosted the Sandalwood Sabres. The game was a defensive battle in the 1^st quarter, but then Hall offence exploded for 4 unanswered touchdowns, to lead the Wolfpack to a 28 – 0 1^st half score. In the 2^nd half, the defence and offence would continue to lead the way, bringing the final score to a resounding 55 – 0 victory. Touchdowns were scored by Ben McCartney, Craig Myers with 2, Andrew Tee, L.D. Cameron, Jalen Velinor, Marco Ferrari and Nicholas Pedicelli. The Wolfpack will face off against the Father Goetz Gators in the playoffs.

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JUNIOR FOOTBALL

With spirits high from the pep rally, on Friday, October 28^th Quinton Davis quarterbacked the Junior Football Team to their 5^th victory  over Ambrozic 34 to 3.Philip Hasfal, Curtis Fillier and John Roque scored touchdowns and Aidan Balzan kicked a convert. The defence led by Jordan Celik, David Reed, Michael McPherson, Dalton Lissio, Aiden Clauser and Connor Reiners held Ambrozic to a single field goal.

FOOTBALL

On Saturday October 22, the St. Michael Thunder squared off with the Robert F. Hall Wolfpack on the gridiron at Hall in the 2nd Annual Baby Bowl.  Students from St. Michael and students from Joanne Correiro's Parenting class at Robert F. Hall, in conjunction with the O.P.P., organized a fundraiser to bring baby supplies to Caledon Women's Shelters.  The event was a huge success, with both schools raising many boxes of supplies.  Mayor Marolyn Morrison and Councillor Patti Foley would kick off the festivities, with the Mayor performing the opening coin toss and Councillor Foley performing the opening kickoff.  On the field, Hall dominated the Thunder in both the Junior and Senior games.  The Juniors, lead by the strong defence of Jake Monk and the relentless running of Curtis Fillier and the strong arm of QB Jake Smith, ran over the junior Thunder by a score of 21 - 0.  The Wolfpack will finish their season with the replay of their game vs. Mayfield on Tuesday October 24 and will host the Cardinal Ambrozic River Hawks on Friday October 28 as they look to wrap up 1st place in the North Division.
In the Senior game, Hall's defence dictated the play from the early going, causing a fumble on the Thunder's first play of the game.  Led by Tevin Bowen's safety, and the relentless play of Hall defensive lineman Lukas Kumer, Hall would shutdown the Thunder offence for the rest of the game.  On offence, rookie Josh Durette lead the charge with a Touchdown on the ground to give Hall a 10 - 0 halftime lead.  In the second half, the Hall ground game would continue to chew up the clock, as running backs Brad Lumsden, Nick Pedicelli, Alex Botnariu and Craig Myers would set the tone, setting up Myers Touchdown to make it 17 - 0.  Hall would put the game away with the strong arm of quarterback Andrew Tee as he would hit Tight End Liam Smyth with the final touchdown pass to make the score 24 - 0 for Hall.  This was a great day had by all, as family and friends of the Thunder and Wolfpack were able to enjoy watching their sons play football on a beautiful Fall day and the community was able to raise a lot of supplies for a very worthy cause.  Coaches D'Amico, Maclean, and Angeles of St. Mikes and Coaches Sweeney, van Heukelom, Fillier, Monk, Tee and McClleand of the Wolfpack would like to thank the Caledon and Orangeville communities for coming together for this excellent cause and for making this a great event, one that we hope to repeat next year as part of Hall's 20th anniversary celebrations.  The Wolfpack play their final regular season game on Friday October 28 vs. Sandalwood Sabres at Hall.  The Thunder play their final regular season game on Wednesday October 26 vs. Bramalea Broncos