BIG BLUE
October 18th, 2007, 07:42 AM
Kyle Walters doing much more with significantly less
GREG LAYSON
If last Saturday's football game between the Guelph Gryphons and Windsor Lancers did anything, aside from putting the Gryphons in the playoffs, it illustrated the polar gap Guelph head coach Kyle Walters has already put between himself and an 11-year veteran coach in the OUA, Mike Morencie.
Walters also narrowed the gap between his program and powerhouse Western.
Guelph's dominating 36-10 win put the Gryphons in the post-season and left the Lancers on the outside looking in, despite starting the season with high hopes and 2006 Hec Crighton winner in running back Daryl Stephenson.
After 10 seasons and just four playoff appearances, this was to be Windsor's year. It was finally coming together in the Rose City.
Mighty Western, which Guelph beat earlier this season, needs to win its final game just to make the playoffs.
Windsor used to cry foul about not having the facilities to compete with the likes of Western when it came to blue chip recruits. The Lancers also used to say there were no scholarship dollars at their disposal and, as a result, good local players were flooding across the border to NCAA schools. And true, they lost Herman defensive back O.J. Atogwe and Belle River centre Brett Romberg to Stanford and the University of Miami, respectively. But truth be told, they both were above and beyond the talent in the OUA. Now they both play for the St. Louis Rams.
Windsor's other excuse used to be the lack of additional paid coaching, so they upped the ante and brought in paid assistants, including first-year offensive co-ordinator Scott Fawcett, whose unimaginative and conservative play-calling scored the Lancers a paltry field goal Saturday. Windsor's other score came on an interception return with the score already 36-3.
Besides the play-calling -- Guelph ran clever crossing routs, a reverse and threw to players out of the backfield Saturday -- Walters could have easily run down the same grocery list of excuses Windsor has used for years and made case as to why or how Guelph could fail on the football field this season and beyond.
Instead, Walters is making it work under circumstances similar to those of Windsor while Morencie is wallowing in losing seasons despite the bones and advantages thrown his way. One game shy of 11 seasons, the Lancers are 26-60-1 under Morencie.
By contrast, in just two seasons at Guelph, Walters is 6-8-0 with a playoff berth and has landed 37 of 40 recruits he and has staff identified early. Rookie receivers Zach Stacey (Burlington) and Jed Gardner (Niagara Falls) have both taken turns at being a leading pass-catcher in games this season. First-year defensive back Sebastian Howard (Niagara Falls) is leading the country with six interceptions and 202 return yards. Walters also pried London-born starting defensive end Grant MacDonald (London) away from Western, even though the player's family had Mustang seasons tickets for a decade. Second-year tailback Nick Fitzgibbon (Puslinch) is better than he was a year ago when he was named the OUA's rookie of the year. He is two touchdowns shy of breaking Guelph's single-season mark of 11.
Walters got all these players -- and so many more -- to commit to Guelph despite the program being a middle-of-the-pack team for much of its history. They're here despite the school being located a little off the beaten path in a farming and agricultural community. Guelph doesn't have new facilities such as Western's TD Waterhouse Stadium, which is always hailed as a potential home to a CFL franchise, or University of Windsor Stadium, which hosted the Canadian Track and Field Championships and Pan-Am Junior Games. For the record, Guelph's Alumni Stadium doesn't have working lights and its dank, second-floor weight room can be mistaken for a warehouse with some weights on the floor. And Guelph high school football certainly hasn't displayed the talent and provincial prominence Windsor has recently. Since 1995, Belle River, Essex, Villanova, Herman and Sandwich have been local and provincial powerhouses. Since the inception of the OFSAA Bowl Series, those teams have contended for or been to an OFSAA Bowl game. Sandwich won three straight at one point. And the Essex Ravens of the OVFL are three-time Western Conference champs and won the league title in 2002.
Oh, it's true; there still remains a gap between the top and bottom, young and old, in the OUA. But the gap is quickly closing. Or widening, depending on where you stand.
Greg Layson is a Guelph Mercury reporter. His column appears Wednesdays. Phone: 519-823-6062. E-mail: glayson@guelphmercury.com.
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GREG LAYSON
If last Saturday's football game between the Guelph Gryphons and Windsor Lancers did anything, aside from putting the Gryphons in the playoffs, it illustrated the polar gap Guelph head coach Kyle Walters has already put between himself and an 11-year veteran coach in the OUA, Mike Morencie.
Walters also narrowed the gap between his program and powerhouse Western.
Guelph's dominating 36-10 win put the Gryphons in the post-season and left the Lancers on the outside looking in, despite starting the season with high hopes and 2006 Hec Crighton winner in running back Daryl Stephenson.
After 10 seasons and just four playoff appearances, this was to be Windsor's year. It was finally coming together in the Rose City.
Mighty Western, which Guelph beat earlier this season, needs to win its final game just to make the playoffs.
Windsor used to cry foul about not having the facilities to compete with the likes of Western when it came to blue chip recruits. The Lancers also used to say there were no scholarship dollars at their disposal and, as a result, good local players were flooding across the border to NCAA schools. And true, they lost Herman defensive back O.J. Atogwe and Belle River centre Brett Romberg to Stanford and the University of Miami, respectively. But truth be told, they both were above and beyond the talent in the OUA. Now they both play for the St. Louis Rams.
Windsor's other excuse used to be the lack of additional paid coaching, so they upped the ante and brought in paid assistants, including first-year offensive co-ordinator Scott Fawcett, whose unimaginative and conservative play-calling scored the Lancers a paltry field goal Saturday. Windsor's other score came on an interception return with the score already 36-3.
Besides the play-calling -- Guelph ran clever crossing routs, a reverse and threw to players out of the backfield Saturday -- Walters could have easily run down the same grocery list of excuses Windsor has used for years and made case as to why or how Guelph could fail on the football field this season and beyond.
Instead, Walters is making it work under circumstances similar to those of Windsor while Morencie is wallowing in losing seasons despite the bones and advantages thrown his way. One game shy of 11 seasons, the Lancers are 26-60-1 under Morencie.
By contrast, in just two seasons at Guelph, Walters is 6-8-0 with a playoff berth and has landed 37 of 40 recruits he and has staff identified early. Rookie receivers Zach Stacey (Burlington) and Jed Gardner (Niagara Falls) have both taken turns at being a leading pass-catcher in games this season. First-year defensive back Sebastian Howard (Niagara Falls) is leading the country with six interceptions and 202 return yards. Walters also pried London-born starting defensive end Grant MacDonald (London) away from Western, even though the player's family had Mustang seasons tickets for a decade. Second-year tailback Nick Fitzgibbon (Puslinch) is better than he was a year ago when he was named the OUA's rookie of the year. He is two touchdowns shy of breaking Guelph's single-season mark of 11.
Walters got all these players -- and so many more -- to commit to Guelph despite the program being a middle-of-the-pack team for much of its history. They're here despite the school being located a little off the beaten path in a farming and agricultural community. Guelph doesn't have new facilities such as Western's TD Waterhouse Stadium, which is always hailed as a potential home to a CFL franchise, or University of Windsor Stadium, which hosted the Canadian Track and Field Championships and Pan-Am Junior Games. For the record, Guelph's Alumni Stadium doesn't have working lights and its dank, second-floor weight room can be mistaken for a warehouse with some weights on the floor. And Guelph high school football certainly hasn't displayed the talent and provincial prominence Windsor has recently. Since 1995, Belle River, Essex, Villanova, Herman and Sandwich have been local and provincial powerhouses. Since the inception of the OFSAA Bowl Series, those teams have contended for or been to an OFSAA Bowl game. Sandwich won three straight at one point. And the Essex Ravens of the OVFL are three-time Western Conference champs and won the league title in 2002.
Oh, it's true; there still remains a gap between the top and bottom, young and old, in the OUA. But the gap is quickly closing. Or widening, depending on where you stand.
Greg Layson is a Guelph Mercury reporter. His column appears Wednesdays. Phone: 519-823-6062. E-mail: glayson@guelphmercury.com.
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