Herman wins rivalry week

By Ryan Blevins

Windsor Stadium was the backdrop for one of Windsor-Essex County’s most competitive rivalries.

Two undefeated teams capped off the Windsor-Essex County Secondary School Athletic Association’s regular season. The Holy Names Knights travelled to Windsor Stadium to take on the defending champion the Herman Green Griffins in a battle for first place.

The Griffins have dominated the rivalry at the senior football level for many years and have won eight consecutive championships. The Knights are a young, inexperienced team and many players defeated the Griffins in the junior football championship last season. According to CanadaFootballChat.com Herman was Canada’s best high school football team entering the game. The competition was no slouch as the Knights were slated at number 15 on that same list.

Green Griffins running back Kaine Stevenson said his team sees those rankings and understands the expectations that come with them.

“We just got ranked number one in Canada so for us to come out here and beat our rivals is big,” said Stevenson. “We think we deserve that number one ranking and we are going to keep proving it.”

At the big game Monday, Stevenson rushed for over 100 yards and sealed the game with a fourth quarter 105-yard touchdown run. The Herman defense may have had an even bigger game. They were able to keep Holy Names Knights running back Zach Herzog out of the endzone and hold him to under 100 yards rushing, something that has not happened this season. This may come as no surprise to many local football fans as the Griffins had yet to allow a single point on defense this season.

Holy Names’ quarterback Inho Choi did not start the season under centre, but according to offensive coordinator Craig Poole, his experience is what earned him the job down the stretch. Choi threw for two touchdowns, one on fourth down to Aramis Stavridis and one on a broken play to Marcus Williams-Cooper. Unfortunately for the Knights, Choi’s final pass was his most costly. An interception on the goal line with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Herman would remain undefeated, beating Holy Names by a score of 30-15.

“If we clean some things up it’s a whole different ball game. It’s obviously a big game but at the end of the day it’s the championship that matters,” said Herzog.

The ultimate goal is winning a championship. Herman’s dominance has extended into the postseason. However, the Knights actually have a better winning percentage during the regular season over the last five years. The Green Griffins are 30-3 during the regular season dating back to 2011. In that same time span, the Knights are 31-1 in the regular season but 0-4 in the championship.

Many fans anticipate these teams will meet in the playoffs. The game has almost become a tradition for the city. If the two teams do meet again, the second installment will be just as highly anticipated.