Imperials’ championship run falls short

By Eric
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Updated: August 22, 2016

John Bain of the Sarnia Imperials tackles Jameek Murray of the GTA All-Stars during the Northern Football Conference championship game at Norm Perry Park on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016 in Sarnia, Ont. The All-Stars won 29-21. (Metcalfe Photography/Handout)

Terry Bridge –Sarnia Observer – Monday, August 22, 2016

Reflecting on a record-setting season for the Sarnia Imperials didn’t ease the pain of coming up short in the league championship game.

“It is our best season, but it’s not sitting well,” Imperials head coach Jake Cherski said of his team’s 29-21 loss to the GTA All-Stars in the Northern Football Conference final. “It’s not where we should have been, we’re a better team than that. We’re a better team than what played on Saturday, I think.

“I woke up, I wasn’t a champion. It didn’t sit well.”

The Imperials rallied late – the home side trailed 29-8 after three quarters before making it a one-score game – but were unable to close the gap on the scoreboard at Norm Perry Park.

Quarterback Pat Wright accumulated 259 passing yards, with a good chunk coming during the fourth-quarter surge.

“We started to move the ball late in the game,” Cherski said. “Couldn’t really establish a running game much.”

The club’s comeback attempt featured two successful onside kicks by Kevin Allaer.

“We kind of let him do what Kevin wants to do, very rarely does he ever mess up for us especially when it comes to onside kicks,” Cherski said.

But before the rally, there was some angst on the Imperials’ sideline as the 21-point disadvantage evoked emotions similar to the 75-17 blowout at the hands of the All-Stars back in June.

“A lot of different mixed emotions on the sidelines,” Cherski said. “A lot of the guys that don’t see a lot of the (playing) time, there’s a little bit of rumblings and grumblings going on behind you, so it’s not what you need really in a game like this, everyone just needs to buy in and button it up and let us do our jobs.

“With that being said, our guys have never given up all year, we’ve always played hard, we’ve always – even when we had a big lead if our second and third strings were out there they always play hard too, so it’s just one of those things, that’s what you get from the Imperials is a hard-playing team, we’re never going to give up.”

Attendance was estimated at between 800 and 900 for the season’s only afternoon kick-off in Sarnia.

“I’m very happy with that,” Cherski said. “I wish every home game was that big, and maybe we’ve started something because when you have twice as many fans as you normally get in now that they’ve seen the calibre of football, we’re not taking a back seat to anybody.”

To get to the title game, Sarnia compiled an NFC-best 7-1 regular-season record and earned home field advantage throughout the playoffs, then beat the Oakville Longhorns 56-0 in the quarter-finals and the Tri-City Outlaws 18-14 in the semifinals. It’s the first time Sarnia has reached the league final since forming a team in 2006.

Looking ahead to the 2017 campaign, the off-season preparation has already begun.

“I wanted to take a couple days off but (that) didn’t happen,” Cherski said. “We’ve already started talking football, talking coaching, talking about recruiting to a bunch of people.”

The coach said he’s currently not aware of any significant players who won’t be returning next year.

Meanwhile, GTA advances to the national championship game against the winner of Saturday’s Alberta Football League final between the Fort McMurray Monarchs and Central Alberta Buccaneers. The cross-Canada contest is Sept. 10.