(Posted 9:30 a.m., Aug. 16)
Cumberland Panthers one win away from first ever OVFL championship
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

When the OVFL playoffs began two weeks ago, the Cumberland Panthers were looking forward to the chance to avenge their only loss of the regular season to the Toronto Thunder.

The Panthers plans were twarted last week when the Etobicoke Eagles upset the Thunder in the Wettges Conference semi-finals.

So instead of avenging their only loss of the season in the Wettges Conference final on Saturday, they took out their revenge on the hapless Eagles who were undermanned and overmatched as the Panthers gave them a good old-fashioned butt-kicking.

After jumping out to a 17-0 first quarter lead, the Panthers added 10 more points in the second quarter and 17 in the third to win easily 41-21.

Cumberland's defensive secondary was especially impressive in picking the ball off five times. Kadeem Vaillancourt had a pair of interceptions while Dustin Wilson, Ron Omara and Cory Bellerdine had one each.

On offense, Ashton Dickson ran for three touchdowns and Alex Skinner threw a pair of touchdown passes to Andrew Mullings and Matt Russell. Ryan Begin kicked all five converts and added a pair of field goals including a 47-yarder.

The Panthers will get a chance to win the club's first ever OVFL championship at Minto Field next Saturday when they take on the Essex Ravens who beat the Hamilton Ironmen 35-18 in the Adams Conference final. The opening kickoff is at 7 p.m.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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