Instead of being the storm, the Hamilton Hurricanes were caught in one on Friday (Sept. 29) when the London Beefeaters pummeled the visitors, 61,-21, and captured first place and home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the process.
Going into the Ontario Football Conference junior game, both teams sported 6-1 records and the Hurricanes were riding a crest of six straight wins.
With the loss, the Hurricanes settle for second place and will meet the third-place Ottawa Sooners in a semi-final tilt on Saturday (Oct. 6) at Mohawk Sports Complex at 8 p.m. London will play the St. Leonard Cougars. In the teams only regular season meeting, Hamilton eked out a 31-29 victory on Aug. 18.
The Beefeaters will play the St. Leonard Cougars.
Friday’s game was never really in doubt as quarterback Blake Huggins had his finest game in a Beefeater uniform. Blake completed 20 of 22 passes for 408 yards, no interceptions and three touchdowns. He hit slotback Christian Ridley for those three touchdowns including an 84-yard effort that saw Ridley break several tackles on his journey to the end zone.
All three running backs had touchdowns as well. Kyle Woldenberg-Puyda rushed for 78 yards and three TDs while Travis Ryan picked up 59 yards and a touchdown and Joel Clubine chipped in 19 yards and a touchdown.
Zack Medeiros, last week’s special teams player of the week, added two field goals and seven converts to finish with 85 points on the season. A bobbled snap on the eighth convert prevented him from adding to his total.
The Beefeaters had 30 first downs.
Defensively, the Beefs picked off four Hamilton passes and recovered a fumble.
Contrary to the score, Hamilton put up good offensive numbers. The Hurricanes finished with 407 yards, usually sufficient to win a game.
