SACKVILLE, N.B. — “Technically solid” was the description of the Tantramar Titans as they picked up where they left off last October by posting 27-10 victory over the Moncton High School Purple Knights here Saturday afternoon in their opening game of the 2019 season in the N.B. High School Football League.
This description of Saturday’s game was offered up by a veteran of the Titan culture – Peter Hess – a former quarterback of the championship squad in the early 1980s and later a coach in various capacities. He pointed to a big, quick and solid offensive line, a pair of fine running backs, a rock solid defense and fine special team units. Earlier, coach Scott O’Neal had said the ground game would be by committee due to the season ending injury to Oliver Longpre. And that is what happened. Mason Prescott is the younger brother of Jared – the tailback for a couple of championship runs – while Owen O’Neal is the younger sibling of Aidan, who broke a number of records. And the pair of familiar sounding names gained fame in the running back position. First, it was Mason Prescott, who tracked 74 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the opening half, and then it was Owen O’Neal, who broke the 100-yard rushing mark in the second half with a pair of majors.
And when things were looking a little gloomy, it was a first-time starter – Ethan Doherty – who stepped up to pull in a Moncton interception and give the Titans good field position.
The first quarter was a little ragged as neither team could find any momentum. The Titans were up 7-0 after 12 minutes thanks to Prescott’s first TD as he carried the ball 41 yards in four plays to paydirt and Joe Carpenter added the extra point.
Prescott picked up his second major midway through the second session before Ryan LeBlanc crossed the Titan line to leave the winners out front 14-7 going into the third.
O’Neal took his turn for the next 24 minutes and scored two in a row in the final quarter. In the meantime the Purple Knights earned a single as their opening kickoff sailed through the end zone and shortly after the Titans were forced to concede a safety.
Due to the unusually heavy number of graduates and an injury, coach O’Neal and his staff found another group of young men able to step up. The huge turnout of fans at Jardine Field saw new names like Aidan Godfrey, Evan Phinney and Doherty take their places, while Riley Estabrooks handled the punting duties for the first time. Rookie quarterback Jesse Estabrooks, after a hesitant start, settled down and performed well for much of the contest.
In winning, the four-time provincial champs increased their winning streak to 14 games and made it 37 wins in 38 trips to the well.
As Hess commented, “this team shows the result of outstanding coaching at all levels.”While the solid victory came as no surprise to most, there had been a lingering concern that this might be the time when the run came to an end. However, O’Neal and his staff were able to patch things up and assemble another winner in spite of it all.
Perhaps this suggests they just might bring home number five.
Coach O’Neal said on Sunday a number of adjustments remain to be made if the Titans are to continue their winning ways in the tough six-squad league.
“Moncton is very big and play a tough defense, he said, “but we were able to move the ball along the ground, perhaps to the surprise of some, and it was a work in progress under windy conditions.”
The Titans will be in Fredericton this Friday to take on the Black Kats – the only other team to ever have won four provincial titles in succession. However, the Titans have had their number for the past few years and look to go to 2-0 by the weekend.
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