Newmarket and its famed Huron Heights Warriors are on top of the senior high school football world once again after a 37-2 win in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl Nov. 28.
The team from Huron Heights Secondary School put on a dominating performance over the Corpus Christi Longhorns during the game in Windsor. The bowl game marks the team as tops in the province as it finishes its football season.
After falling one point short of winning a final bowl game in 2022, coach Heath Weir said it felt great to be back on top.
“The kids worked hard. They wanted it. After last year, losing by a single, the kids put it on their back and they worked from January to yesterday to make sure that didn’t happen again,” Weir said.
The Warriors football program has consistently been among the best in the province and country, with the team getting celebrated in 2021 for being considered tops in the country.
A back-to-back effort for that honour was thwarted last year, when the team narrowly lost the OFSAA Western Bowl to Sir Wilfred Laurier Secondary School 13-12.
That loss created a team motto for this year’s season, Weir said: “Don’t flinch.”
“Last year, late in the fourth quarter, we flinched. We made a couple of mistakes, and it cost us the game,” Weir said.
The team was able to carry that forward this year to a dominant season with a 12-1 record. Weir highlighted the efforts of quarterback Ethan Schwarz and running back Josh Martin-Pendley on offence, as well as linebacker Robert Wood and safety Allex Figen on defence.
“They’re the ones that really led the way in winning the bowl game,” Weir said.
The team also featured wide receiver Chloe Winterton, the lone female on the team. The Warriors said she became the first female athlete in school board history to win an OFSAA football championship.
“She was adamant about playing football,” Weir said. “She’s been a true warrior the whole time … She’s been really great.”
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor offered his congratulations on social media.
"Warriors, you continue to amaze me! Your program and achievements make us all proud," Taylor said.
Although there is no formal play across provincial lines, high school football teams have relied on the recognized ranking website Canada Football Chat to gauge the best teams in the country. Weir said he feels confident that the senior warriors could win against any other high school football team in the country.
The wins may not be over for the school yet. The junior football team is set to compete for a provincial title Nov. 30, when it will play in Toronto versus Peterborough’s Holy Cross Hurricanes.
Weir said a win would be only the second program in Ontario high school football history to have both senior and junior programs win provincial titles in the same year.
“Which says a lot for our program and our coaches’ commitment. Our kids work really hard,” he said.
The complete game for the senior team was streamed via WE Digital Productions on Youtube.
