Photo courtesy of William F. Smith

The Ontario Conference has announced their Most Outstanding Players and Coach of the Year for the 2025 season as a lead up to the Conference championship game this coming weekend between the St. Clair Saints and the Hamilton Hurricanes.

Ontario Conference Outstanding Players:

Coach of the Year – Leith Fisken – Quinte Skyhawks – in his first season as the head coach, Fisken led his team to within one win of the postseason and created a culture of positivity in Quinte.

Outstanding Offensive Lineman – Thomas Ta’Avili - St. Clair Saints  

Outstanding Defensive Lineman – Jaylin Burnett* – St. Clair Saints (second consecutive season)- he had a Conference high 11 sacks to complement his 28 tackles, 18 assisted stops, forced a fumble, recovered three fumbles, one for a touchdown and made 17.5 tackles for a loss.

Alex Stajic Memorial Special Teams – KR/P Cameron St. Kitts-Park – St. Clair Saints - he showed his versatility all year long. He not only put up big numbers as a receiver on the offensive side but made significant contributions on special teams including 20 punts averaging 33.7 yards and returned two kick offs averaging 67.5 yards a return and ran one back 106 yards for a touchdown. 

Return Specialist – Marselio Mendez – St. Clair Saints – he returned 22 kicks during the regular season and averaged 24.8 yards with each return.  He also returned two punts for touchdowns adding to his impressive stats.

Offensive Rookie of the Year – Running back – Sam Mustapha – Sault Ste. Marie Cougars – he won the Ontario Conference rushing title with 854 yards on 76 carries and scored eight touchdowns.

Defensive Rookie of the Year – Linebacker – Grant Mathewson – Sault Ste. Marie Cougars – he tallied 26 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, added 13 assisted stops, had a sack, and blocked a kick.

Co-Outstanding Defensive Players of the Year – DL – Jaylin Burnett - St. Clair Saints (second consecutive season)- he had a Conference high 11 sacks to complement his 28 tackles, 18 assisted stops, forced a fumble, recovered three fumbles, one for a touchdown and made 17.5 tackles for a loss.

AND

LB Clay Ritchard – London Beefeaters – he finished the season with 39 tackles, 8 assisted stops, had 4 sacks, recovered two fumbles, forced one and intercepted a pass

Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year – Quarterback – Matthew Guenette* - St. Clair Saints - set a new record for completing 75.9% of his passes for a Conference high 2299 yards and set a record with 35 touchdowns for a quarterback efficiency of 163.5% on 145 completions.

Bill Prest Community Service Award – Cedric Abu-Zahra – Ottawa Sooners

This Saturday the #1 seeded St. Clair Saints host the #3 seeded Hamilton Hurricanes for the Teddy Morris championship game and the right to advance to the CJFL National Semi-Final game held in the BC Conference on Saturday October 25, 2025.  

*unanimous selection