The Cumberland Panthers U14 boys football team recently made history by wining the club’s third U14 Ontario Summer Football League championship in a row, something that has never been down before.

The three-peat occurred at Richardson Stadium in Kingston on July 29 against the London Jr. Mustangs. Both teams went into the title game with identical 8-0 records, having both won their respective semi-final games in impressive fashion.

The Panthers beat the Waterloo Jr. Warriors 33-0 in their semi-final and the Jr. Mustangs beat the Scarborough Thunder 55-7.

They also had similar points for and against records. The Panther’ offence scored a total of 370 points in eight games while their defence gave up just 59 points. The Jr. Mustangs, on the other hand had racked up 371 points in their eight games and gave up 70 points.

With stat lines like that the championship game would come down to whose defence would be able to stop the other’s offence.

The game got off to a fast start as the Panthers scored on their very first play from scrimmage when wide receiver Joenny Ngondi took the ball up the middle on a sweep and scampered 80 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

The Jr. Mustangs responded with a 100-yard touchdown run by Taeo Maola on their second play from scrimmage after taking a five-yard procedure penalty on their first play.

After the two explosive touchdown runs, both teams’ defences stepped up their game and held the opposing offences to three and out on the next two series.

Cumberland then put together a 93-yard drive that was capped by a 12-yard run by Gabriel Rose for the Panthers second touchdown of the game to end the first quarter.

A botched punt attempt on the Jr. Mustangs next series would give the Cumberland a first down on London’s 15-yard line.

Four plays later, Panthers’ quarterback Cristiano Saghbini threw a screen pass to offensive lineman Isaac Landon for what everyone thought was the team’s third touchdown of the game. Unfortunately, Landon didn’t report in as an eligible receiver and the Panthers were given a penalty for an illegal formation and the touchdown was taken off the scoreboard.

A second attempt at the end zone on fourth down resulted in a broken pass and a change of possession in London’s favour which the Jr. Mustangs turned into a long touchdown drive capped by Mateo’s second touchdown of the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Panthers’ kick returner Zachariah Alidu carried the ball 40 yards to the 55-yard line. Three plays later, Saghbini found receiver Averi Jean-Baptiste for an 11-yard touchdown toss to put the Panthers up 21-14, which is how the first half ended.
The second half began with a defensive stand by the Panthers which forced the Jr. Mustangs to punt the ball from their 23-yard line.

It took the Panthers just three plays to score their second touchdown of game on a play action pass from Saghbini to Ngondi that covered 40-yards.

The Jr. Mustangs put together another long drive, capped by Mateo’s third touchdown of the game to keep the score close, but it was all Panthers from there as they scored three of the next four touchdowns to win the game going away.

Jataveon Hall scored one of the touch-downs on a four yard run for Cumberland while James Fournier added a 45-yard “pick six” interception return and Ngondi scored his third TD of the game to cap the 49-29 final result.

The U12 Panthers joined the club’s U16 girls team as provincial champions, repeating the two titles the club won last year.

With the summer season out of the way, the Cumberland Panthers are now preparing for the fall season which will kick off this Saturday at Millennium Park.