Photo courtesy of Bob Davies

The New Year is well underway, how are your resolutions holding up?  For the 19 CJFL teams, preparation for the 2026 season is proceeding as they hope their own New Years resolutions will help them to success by holding the Canadian Bowl trophy over their head in November.

With resolutions fresh on your mind, here is just one for each of the six teams in the Ontario Conference.

ST. CLAIR SAINTS

Ross says Pivot!

Since joining St. Clair, the Saints football program has been blessed with some incredibly talented quarterbacks including Maurice Sodja, Michael Beale and of course Matt Guenette last year who set a new Conference record with 35 touchdowns and a CJFL completion percentage record of 75.9%.  So now what? All three of these pivots have graduated and moved on, so the Saints are in search of the next great quarterback for the program.  Two other pivots appeared on their 2025 roster; George Arbez and Quinn O’Billovich who could be ready to take over the reigns, or will the Saints coaching staff be able to attract another QB that could challenge for the starting role?  Time will tell but one thing is certain, the Saints have aspirations to get back to the national stage for the fifth consecutive season in 2026.

LONDON BEEFEATERS

Pass the ball

Last season the Beefeaters became a one-dimensional offence predominantly using the run to move the football.  Nick Fonti, Elijah Prosper and Zach Dewlo carried the load offensively chewing up 1153 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.  They combined for more yards on the ground then what quarterback DJ Fonti collected in the air finishing with 1091 yards on 83 completions.  He did complete 59% of his passes, but to win in the CJFL teams must have a nice mix of the run and pass.  When defences can see an offence is one-dimensional, it makes their job a bit easier.  A new head coach in London could bring a pass first mentality once one is named.

HAMILTON HURRICANES

Ride the momentum

It’s been a minute, but the Hurricanes came storming back in 2025 with a rebound type of season winning six games, captured a road playoff win and got back to the Conference championship game for the first time since 2018.  They made major strides the past campaign in all three facets of the game, perhaps none bigger than on the defensive side holding the opposition to the second fewest points per game, allowing 17.1.   Graduating quarterback Kayrus Sam leaves behind big cleats to fill, but the Hurricanes have momentum after a successful season and will have players considering the steel city when looking at potential CJFL destinations.

SAULT STE. MARIE COUGARS

Avoid sophomore slump

What a great inaugural season for the Cougars, who finished 4-4 and claimed a playoff spot in the Ontario Conference.  Their semi-final game on the road in Windsor showed that they grew and developed over the course of their first campaign, setting themselves up for a highly anticipated second season.  The Cougars are not a typical “expansion franchise” who needs to find their footing before becoming a threat on the field, thanks in part to their relationship with Sault College.  Instead, the Cougars and their coaching staff expects to win immediately and plenty of questions will be answered in the sophomore season.

QUINTE SKYHAWKS

Higher compete level

The Skyhawks will enter year six of their franchise and will have high expectations to compete for a playoff spot in 2026.  Head coach Leith Fisken was named the Conference Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm last year and no doubt took some giant steps in learning what is needed to compete in the CJFL.  He will recruit and coach his players to have a desire to move this Skyhawks franchise to a new level and get them back to the postseason.  Many expect the Skyhawks to surpass their 2025-win total of three.

OTTAWA SOONERS

Find scoring

The Sooners named Tony Canonico their new head coach for 2026 allowing Kevin Ling to concentrate more on getting the right players and talent into the program to get back to the CJFL Canadian Bowl playoffs.  It’s no secret the Sooners need to find scoring after recording only 64 points all of last year.  Running back Rashaad Johnson did most of that scoring himself with five touchdowns. They had skilled players on their roster a year ago but just couldn’t find the scoreboard on a consistent basis particularly through the air with only two passing touchdowns.  Both Canonico and Ling will be busy this offseason looking to get this storied franchise back into contention.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Hamilton

The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is proud to announce the FIRST-Team All-Canadians for the 2025 season.

Offensive Line
Kaiden Kerntopf – Okanagan Sun (second consecutive season)
Caleb Barajas – Regina Thunder (second consecutive All-Canadian)
Thomas Ta’Avili – St. Clair Saints
Johnny Fazio-Raposo – St. Clair Saints
Jack Erlandson – Saskatoon Hilltops 

Receivers
Cameron St. Kitts Park – St. Clair Saints (second consecutive All-Canadian) - he led the OFC in receptions (56), receiving yards (760) and scored nine touchdowns

Marselio Mendez – St. Clair Saints - he hauled in 30 receptions for 611 yards and led the Conference with 11 touchdowns

Zion Brown – Westshore Rebels - he had a CJFL high 1039 receiving yards on 69 receptions and tied a CJFL record with 18 touchdowns

Jarome Penner – Winnipeg Rifles (pictured) - he led the Conference with 794 receiving yards on 40 receptions and tallied three touchdowns.  He averaged 19.9 yards a catch

Running Backs
Peter Boersch – Regina Thunder – he won the Conference rushing title with 1327 yards on 174 carries and four touchdowns averaging 7.4 yards a carry

David Collins – Saskatoon Hilltops – he carried the rock 126 times for 1028 yards and a Conference high 13 touchdowns, averaging 8.2 yards per carry

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 new record with 35 touchdowns for a quarterback efficiency of 163.5%.  

Punter
Teagan Good – Quinte Skyhawks – he booted a Conference high 49 punts, averaging 34.6 yards and tallied a pair of singles

Place Kicker
Shawn Green – Regina Thunder – he led the Conference with 83 points.  He booted a Conference high 17 field goals, knocking through 81% of his kicks.

Defensive Line
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

Johnathon Stevens – Saskatoon Hilltops – (second consecutive All-Canadian) he led the Conference with three sacks, had 11 tackles, 18 assisted stops, had a knockdown, forced and recovered a fumble

JaQuintis Summers – Okanagan Sun – recorded 12 sacks, 17 tackles, 9 assists, forced a recovered a fumble 

Jarveon Williams - Okanagan Sun – he collected 11 sacks, 14 tackles, returned a fumble 55-yards for a touchdown, knocked down four passes and forced a fumble

Linebackers
Kyler Banfield – Winnipeg Rifles - led the Conference with 37 tackles and 26 assisted stops.  He added two sacks, four knockdowns, forced two fumbles, and recovered a pair

Andy Ofosuhene – Valley Huskers - he had a Conference high 47 tackles, added 14 assisted stops, 2 sack, 1 interception and 2 knockdowns

Clay Ritschard – London Beefeaters - he had 39 solo tackles, eight assisted stops, four sacks, intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and recovered two other fumbles

Defensive Backs
Raiden Mastin – Valley Huskers (second consecutive All-Canadian) - he tallied three interceptions returning one for a touchdown, two sacks, 38 tackles, five assisted stops, five knockdowns and forced a fumble

Tariq Brown – Okanagan Sun - led the Conference with seven interceptions, returning two for a touchdown, had 19 tackles, 5 assists, added a sack, 3 knockdowns, forced a fumble and recovered one

Brandon Vecchio – St. Clair Saints - he intercepted four passes and returned three of them for touchdowns, knocked down three passes and made six tackles

Cooper Filazek – Regina Thunder - he had three interceptions, six tackles, and two knockdowns

Teagan Good – Quinte Skyhawks - he had another great season intercepting three passes, blocked three kicks, forced and recovered a fumble, had 20 tackles, assisted on five others and had a knockdown

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.