HAMILTON – The Sir Winston Churchill Trojans are Northern Bowl champions.
The Thunder Bay squad on Wednesday captured its first – and final – provincial high school football title, downing North Bay’s West Ferris Trojans 36-14 at Tim Hortons field in Hamilton to bring home the championship, the city’s second straight. St. Ignatius won the Simcoe Bowl a year ago.
Braeden Prochnicki scored once on the ground and hauled TD catches of 26 and 42-yards from quarterback Dylan Ford to lead the Trojans to a win and formally close a program that captured 14 Superior Secondary Schools Athletics Association titles. The school is scheduled to close in June.
Prochnicki finished with eight carries for 179 yards and added three receptions for 88 yards.
Ford connected on 13 of 24 pass attempts for 197 yards and four touchdowns
Receiver James Basalyga caught a pair of touchdown passes from Ford, including a four-yard score in he second and 14-yard strike midway through the final quarter that pushed the Churchill lead to 30-7.
Basalyga also had a pair of interceptions on the afternoon on the defensive side of the ball.
Diminutive back Ryan McColeman had both scores for West Ferris, seeking its first Northern Bowl title since 2004. McColeman had 118 yards on 22 carries for West Ferris, while quarterback Mason McGriskin threw for 93 yards and and four interceptions.
