FCC2018 PREVIEW: ONTARIO

Ontario is hoping make an upward move and improve on last year’s bronze medal finish.

“Our goal is always the gold medal,” commented Head Coach Glen Mills of the team’s goal for the 2018 Football Canada Cup in Calgary.  “I think the last couple of years we came up a little bit short and we have lost twice in the last few years to Saskatchewan.”

“The last couple of years have been a bit of a heartbreak in regards to getting into the championship finals. It’s definitely to win a national championship.”

Mills says there has been major improvements to Ontario’s offence which will be evident come opening day of the tournament.

“We’re excited and we think our quarterback play will be quite good this year,” Mills said.  “It’s been up and down and we have had bad luck the past couple of years with quarterbacks and injuries.”

“Our offensive line will be solid and defensively, our play will be very good.”

Ontario’s offensive unit will be led by the quarterbacking duo of Ryan Licandro and Xavier Gervais.

“Ryan is a drop back passer with a very strong arm, very smart young man and very talented young man,” Mills described.  “Xavier can do a lot of different things; he can punt, he can kick, he’s a tremendous receiver and a very gifted athlete that can really run.”

“They are completely different but again both are very talented in regard to what they both bring to the table.”

Offensively, one of the team’s strength’s is their running back core. With the coaching experience of JP Circelli on that unit, Ontario’s unit is expected to be versatile, yet dynamic.

On the other side of the ball, Ontario’s defence boasts several impact players who are physical, big and fast.

Ontario is quite familiar with their opponent in their first game as they have played them over the past few years.  Once again, the team will face Nova Scotia on Monday July 16, 2018 at 1:00pm MST.

“Nova Scotia has continually gotten better,” Mills reflected.  “They were definitely fired up to play us last year.”

“Last year, I think we underestimated Nova Scotia a little bit and it took us a while to get us rolling.  It was a tight game  We just have to bring our A game and have to concentrate on the things that we do well. We will be in good shape. We have to play 48 minutes of football not just 12 minutes.”

TEAM ONTARIO

2017 RESULT: defeated Alberta 34-29 to win bronze medal and ended up third

HEAD COACH: Glen Mills – 6th year as Head Coach, has won three bronze, a silver and gold during this stint

NUMBER OF RETURNING PLAYERS: 4

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

This post is also available in: French