In the south division, Mount Carmel and Lorne Park have separated themselves from the crowd and will not be touched by any of their divisonal opponents. Both teams are deep and explosive though most coaches believe that Carmel has the more dangerous offense while Lorne Park has a slight advantage on D. Mount Carmel came away with a close, 3 point victory over Lorne Park earlier this season but no one thinks the result will be easy to predict, should they meet in the finals.
In the north, St. Marcellinus has proven themselves to be the class of the division. They are chock full of Mississauga Warriors and some coaches believe they have the best quarterback in the GTA. The school has slowly moved into the football spotlight both figuratively and literally. They have built one of the region's powerhouse football programs from scratch in a short time and they play most of their home games under the lights of their beautiful facility on Friday nights. There has been a bit of controversy during the Friday night games, with some acts of violence committed in and around the facility, often by people with no connection to any of the schools playing. As a result, they have increased police protection and banned anyone under 21 who does not have school ID from one of the two schools playing each game.
The dark horse is Xavier, a relative newcomer to tier 1 football in Peel. Their first season in tier 1 was a struggle, as a young team won only one game late in the season. However, now that the full benefits of their junior program are paying off, they have become the clear #2 team in the north, following a big win over favoured Campion. Their two losses against Marcellinus (by 17) and Lorne Park (by 5) were notable for strong play on the line and key interceptions. Given the right circumstances, they might pull an upset in the semi-finals though they are still clearly behind the big 3.
Defending tier 1 champs Notre Dame are in rebuilding mode, as reflected in their 1-3 record, St. Joe's and Aquinas are both having disappointing seasons when compared to previous seasons. However, in the cyclical nature of high football, a team is only ever one or two years away from competing again.
One issue of concern is how the cross-over games might affect the standings. Teams play two games against opponents in the opposite division which means that scheduling can create an imbalanced schedule. The most blatant examples are Xavier's two games against Lorne Park and Mount Carmel, the top two teams in the south and Notre Dames games against the two weakest teams in the south: Loyola and St. Joe's. A situation like this could set up a situation where a team beats all of the rivals below them in the standings but still finishes behind a weaker team because of their cross-over opponents.
Is there a better solution? What about home-and-home against teams in your own division or setting the cross-over schedule only after teams have played 3 or 4 games against their own division; give each team games against 1 & 6, 2 & 5, or 3 & 4 in the other division? A more radical idea might be one similar to the US: Play the cross over games at the start of the season as "non conference" match ups but only count games against division opponents in the standings.
The other big issue in Peel football is, as always, transfers and recruiting. There are a lot of coaches asking questions about the number of players at certain schools who live outside their borders. How is this happening when both the Catholic and Public school boards do not have a policy of open borders. In fact, many of these schools are "capped" and cannot go even one student over their listed cap. Are students living in the area being turned away because athletes are shopping for the best program? What about the number of transfers being approved, some even involving students who have played at more than one school in the same season? Football, along with basketball, often draw most of the attention in the media over controversial transfers. If this continues to be an issue, OFSAA might use it as an excuse to further enhance already-strict transfer regulations.
As the playoffs approach in Peel, the most significant battles will be for the third and fourth playoff spot in each division.
In the south, Carmel and Lorne Park have already clinched the top two spots while Carmel only needs one more victory in their last two games to clinch first. Third will probably come down to the match-up between Pocock and Meadowvale, with the loser likely squeaking into the fourth and final spot.
In the north, Marcellinus has already clinched first. Xavier didn't get any help from the person who set their cross-over games but, even if they lose both, they should still easily defeat Aquinas in their final game and do no worse than taking second via tie-breaker. d'Youville and Campion will be close behind with their head to head match-up also settling third and fourth.
After all is said and done, the most likely semi-final scenario seems to be Carmel hosting Xavier and Marcellinus hosting Lorne Park. Anyone who remembers the junior final four from two years ago will find this list of teams very familiar. Yet another example of the cyclical nature of high school football.
Good luck to all teams in the homestretch. Hopefully one of the Peel teams has it in them to knock of the Golden Horshoe powerhouses from St. Thoma More and Lakeshore Catholic in this year's Golden Horshoe playoffs.
For more info about ROPSSAA Football, check out the current league standings or the discussion forum at All Canadian Gridiron.
