Ontario East hangs on to 2nd half Nova Scotia surge to capture 5th place

Despite Nova Scotia capitalizing on two mishandled 2^nd half punts, Ontario East held on to win 32-18 in the 5^th place game of the 2012 Football Canada Cup hosted by the Ontario Football Alliance (OFA) at TD Waterhouse Stadium on the campus of Western University in London, Ontario.

Ontario East opened the scoring on a 7-yard George Papadakos screen pass to receiver, Andrew Ellis with 7:14 to play in the opening quarter.

With 3:14 in the second half, Nova Scotia got on the board after a 76-yard Chase Kodejs punt led to a rouge to make the score 7-1.

With Ontario East threatening at the goal line after a Pelle Jorgen run, Nova Scotia’s defense held strong after a terrific tackle by defensive back, Taylor MacDonald brought up 2^nd and 15. After a pass to Malcolm Carter was broken up in the end zone, Ontario East settled for a 15-yard Michael Domagala field goal to widen the Ontario East advantage 10-1.

A Pelle Jorgen run set up Ontario East with terrific field position inside the Nova Scotia 20 yard line. With 34 seconds to play in the 1^st half quarterback, George Papadakos made the score 17-1 on a 1-yard QB keeper.

In the dying seconds of the first half, Domagala added a 17-yard field goal to make the score 20-1 for Ontario East. The final score of the half was set up by an Austin Spilotro interception which gave Ontario East the ball at the Nova Scotia 35 after a block in the back negated the pick six.

Late in the 3^rd quarter, Nova Scotia looked to have received a swing in momentum after a Kodejs punt was mishandled by Ontario East and recovered by Nova Scotia near the goal line. On the next play David Nisbet ran the ball in for the score trimming the Ontario East lead 20-8.

On the first play of the final quarter, Nova Scotia conceded a safety to make the score 22-8.

With 8:23 remaining in the final quarter, Nova Scotia recovered its second punt of the game, this time Andrew Ellis had trouble holding onto the kick in the end zone and the opposition jumped on the ball for the major, making the score 22-15.

Nova Scotia was unable to further decrease the deficit. At the three minute warning, Domagala added a 30-yard field goal to increase the Ontario East lead 25-15.

After Kodejs added a 27-yard Nova Scotia field goal to make the score 25-18, Ontario East sealed the win with under a minute remaining on a 62-yard touchdown run by Pelle Jorgen to make the final score 32-18. On the day, Jorgen ran the ball seven times for 139 yards.

With the win Ontario East finishes the tournament in 5^th place while Nova Scotia captures 6^thplace.

Players of the game: