Recent Ottawa Sooners News
Kick-off is set for August 17 in Ontario
The CJFL in conjunction with the Ontario Conference (OFC) have released their 2024 schedule that will see the six-member Conference open the CJFL season the weekend of August 17, 2024 with a full slate of games
The defending Conference champion St. Clair Saints begin their title defence in a Conference final rematch when they visit the London Beefeaters that afternoon at 3:00pm. The Hamilton Hurricanes will visit the Ottawa Sooners that night at 7:00pm, then the GTA Grizzlies host the Quinte Skyhawks the next day at 1:00pm.
The teams are scheduled to play an eight-week regular season concluding on October 6th. The Conference playoffs have a bit of a twist this year, with all six teams qualifying for postseason play, beginning with a pair of quarterfinals on October 12. The top two seeds will have a bye into a semi-final and will await the quarterfinal winners the following weekend before the Conference championship game scheduled for Saturday October 26th. The winner of the Conference will host the 2024 Canadian Bowl on their home field on Saturday November 9th when they host the winner of the CJFL National Semi-Final between the champion from BC and the champion from the Prairie Conference.
It was 2021, the last time the Ontario Conference hosted the Canadian Bowl. That season the Beefeaters fell to the visiting Langley Rams.
The Ottawa Sooner shares his love of football
For the most part, players in the CJFL fell in love with the game of football at a young age. The first chance they got they were involved in the game, whether playing, filling water bottles or cheering on their favourite teams.
Regardless of how they got to their current CJFL team, each one of the players has a story. This is the story of defensive lineman Richard Graham who just graduated from the Ottawa Sooners program. He was a dynamic player on the defensive side of the ball for his club and every now and then would appear offensively as well.
Following the Sooners season, Graham was invited to the CFL’s Invitational Combine and he impressed some of the professional teams so much that they are still talking with as the draft approaches.
Richard talks with Ryan Watters about his Football Story.
The 1974 Ottawa Sooners enshrined
The 1974 Ottawa Sooners will be enshrined in the nation’s capital in May.
Recently the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame announced their 2024 inductees and the Sooners got the nod in the team category.
It’s been 50 years since this Sooners’ team won the Canadian Bowl and sat on top of the CJFL. The ’74 championship game was called the Leader Post Trophy with the Sooners claiming a 17-4 victory over the Vancouver Meralomas, the best from the Big 4 Conference.
During the regular season in 1974 the Sooners finished 8-2 and averaged over 39 points a game, which was the most across the CJFL. Defensively they dominated holding teams to just eight points a game, the second fewest in the country. In the postseason they beat the Verdun Maple Leafs 27-17 in the quarterfinal to advance to the semi-finals.
In the early ‘70s once past your quarterfinal you entered into a semi-final that was a best of two. The team that scored more points during the two games would advance in the playoffs. The Sooners took on the Niagara Regional Raiders and destroyed them 69-14 in the two games to moved onto the Ontario championship where they met the Hamilton Hurricanes. This was considerably closer with the Sooners winning the playoff series 33-30 to win the right to play for the national championship and meet the Meralomas.
The 1974 Sooners join the 1999 Ottawa 67’s as inductees into the Hall along with TSN’s James Duthie, NHLers Mike Bullard and Luke Richardson and soccer star Lyndon Hooper.
The ceremony will take place on Tuesday May 28th where the Sooners will be official inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame.