Recent Ottawa Sooners News
The Conference opens play on August 12
The CJFL in conjunction with the Ontario Conference (OFC) have released their 2023 schedule that will see the six-member Conference open the CJFL season the weekend of August 12, 2023 with a full slate of games
The defending Conference champion St. Clair Saints begin their title defence that evening at 7:00pm when they host the Quinte Skyhawks. Earlier that day the London Beefeaters visit the Ottawa Sooners at 4:00pm at Lee’s Stadium in an Ontario Conference semi-final rematch to officially open the Conference season. Then on August 13th the GTA Grizzlies entertain the Hamilton Hurricanes in a matinee at 1:00pm.
The teams are scheduled to play an eight-week regular season concluding on October 1st. The Conference playoffs will open on October 14th, following the Thanksgiving bye weekend with a pair of semi-finals before the Conference championship game scheduled for Saturday October 21st.
The winner of the Ontario final will travel to the Prairie Conference in the CJFL National Semi-Final on Saturday October 28th. The winner of that game will travel to BC for the 2023 Canadian Bowl.
Seven players with CJFL ties completed in the combine
The CJFL was very well represented at the CFL Invitational Combine with seven players completing among some of the best from US colleges and U-Sport programs.
Below are the final results from the seven players that took part:
| Players | Bench Press | 40-Yard | Vertical | Broad Jump | 3-Cone | Shuttle Run |
| Burgmaier, Donovan | 21 | 5.37 | 30 | 8'10 1/8 | 7.53 | 4.7 |
| Charles, Shawn | 4 | 4.92 | 28 | 8'11 7/8 | 7.94 | DNP |
| Hayes-Williams, Jared | DNP | 5.01 | 27 | 8'9 5/8 | 7.44 | 4.45 |
| Ricard, Andrew | 8 | 5.12 | 24.5 | 8'4 | 7.66 | 4.58 |
| Pingue, Jadyn | DNP | 4.95 | 31 | 8'8 | 7.71 | DNP |
| O'Shea, Mike | DNP | 4.86 | 34 | 9'8 5/8 | 7.26 | 4.4 |
| Oling, Ronnie | 11 | 4.78 | 32 | 9'2 3/4 | 7.32 | 4.37 |
The heart of the Ottawa Sooners defence
The Ottawa Sooners rejoined the CJFL and the Ontario Conference in 2022 and made an immediate impact. As a team they finished 5-3 and earned a playoff berth as the third seed.
Their defence was solid led by defensive lineman Richard Graham. He is very versatile and has the ability to drop back to play linebacker whenever the coaching staff needs him to. He finished last year with 24 tackles, had five assists, 2.5 sacks, had had three defensive touchdowns, two on interceptions and one fumble recovery for a major. He also blocked a kick, had a knockdown, forced a fumble, and recovered two fumbles.
He was named an Ontario Conference All-Star and will no doubt lead the Sooners defence this coming season. Check out his highlights HERE as a member of the CJFL Class of 2023!
CFL Invitational Combine
- By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters) 02/07/2023, 6:00pm PST
A Look Back at 2022
- By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters) 12/31/2022, 11:00am PST
Second-Team All-Canadians
- By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters) 11/09/2022, 12:00pm PST
Week 13 Preview
- By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters) 10/15/2022, 9:30am PDT
Top 10 Power Rankings
- By CJFL 10/13/2022, 7:30am PDT
