MONCTON, N.B. — Even without head coach Scott O’Neal behind the bench, the Tantramar Regional High School Titans made short work of the Moncton Purple Knights Friday night in Moncton, romping to a 35-0 whitewashing of the Hub City school in New Brunswick High School Football League action.
The victory came following a surprise decision by the NBIAA to suspend O’Neal for one game and to enforce the forfeiture of three victories due to the use of what was deemed an ineligible player.
Acting head coach Ben Brown showed little mercy as he pulled out all the stops, and it was obvious the players were fired up after the unfortunate announcements. The defense refused to provide any space for the Moncton team to operate, turning in what some claim was their best showing to date.
Meanwhile, there was no stopping Owen O’Neal. The powerful running back romped for 200 yards along the ground and posted four touchdowns. Colby Tower notched the other and a trio of converts with a safety accounted for all of the scoring.
While the NBIAA may have taken away three victories, the fact remains the Titans have posted 18 consecutive onfield victories over parts of the past three seasons. In essence, they still proudly maintain their five wins for this season, although administrators have them at 2-3 due to a handbook change, unknown to local officials, including TRHS athletic director Ben Brown and principal Susan Lafford.
Prior to this school year, there were six criteria that would make a transfer student eligible, including out-of-province students transferring to an NBIAA school who have not received a high school diploma.
The purpose of the new transfer eligibility policy is to “restrict students transferring schools for athletic purposes and prevent recruiting.”
Athletes from Cumberland have been attending Tantramar for years. These have included basketball, hockey and football players. Rather than being recruited, they have chosen to travel to and from Sackville each day in order to receive a more holistic education. It has worked out well for both the athletes and the small school with just over 400 students.
Such opportunities will now be denied athletes from east of the border, which does little to enhance the game of football in Atlantic Canada.
There is a sense the change was recently made when two athletes from P.E.I. opted to move to Moncton on their own in order to compete with the Purple Knights, which could have been seen as recruiting.
But coach O’Neal hints there may have been a more sinister motive – a move to handicap the Titans from continuing their winning ways, and claiming four consecutive championships. And there was the effort to throw a roadblock two years ago when a group of Moncton area coaches submitted a grievance against the team and Titan coaches. As is known, this was soundly rejected, actually becoming a tribute to the quality of play by the local players.
Critics of the NBIAA continue to ponder some moves – like denying an athlete from Salisbury from playing for Riverview. He had played minor ball in Riverview, and Salisbury didn't have football, but the ruling was that he must sit out a year to gain eligibility.
While players from the Nova Scotia side have shown well with the Titans – with some moving on to university programs – there is confidence the team would have continued to win games even without them in the lineup.
Thus, the local team placed an exclamation mark on Friday night with their easy and lop-sided victory over the second-best squad in the province. They have two games remaining and victories will lift them into the playoffs despite forfeiting a trio of wins but it could cost them a home playoff nod.
So Titans fans are expected to be out in droves this Saturday when they face another challenge, this time against the Riverview Royals on the Riverview field. A win will be necessary as will another the following Saturday when the Saint John Greyhounds visit the Titans in a 1 p.m. matchup.
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