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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-11-14, Page 22,`caderich i SIGNAL -STAFF RECREATION 136 YEAR -45 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1984 50 CENTS PER COPY Viking quarterback John Thompson hands the ball off to Ed Craig, who scored on the play, in the Huron -Perth final here Saturday. Craig scored touchdowns on runs of 24 and five yards to lead the Vikes to a 32-0 win in the final. Members of the GDCI senior Viking football team congratulate football championship. Despite the rain a large crowd attended the each other after ripping Listowel 32-0 to win another Huron -Perth final here Saturday. Vikings retain Huron -Perth title BY TD How good were the 1984 GDCI Senior Vik- ings? That's a question for which there may never be an answer. The GDCI Senior foot- ball team won the Huron -Perth Conference championship, here Saturday, by defeating the Listowel Lords 32-0. It was a game like all the games the Vik- ings played this year. They were obviously the better team; better prepared, more skilled, more talented. The Lords were unable to really challenge them. The game put the cap on a perfect season for the Vikings. They played nine games and won them all; scoring 316 points and giving up 11. The final game was typical of the Vikings play this year. The offence started slowly, but superb defensive play held them in the game until the offence began to move the ball on the ground, with the occasional pass for key yardage. The Lords mounted an offensive drive in the first quarter, aided by a couple of Goderich fumbles and a penalty which nullified a long Viking gain, which would have put the ball on the Listowel two -yard line. The Lords had the ball in the Viking end of the field for much of the quarter, but came out of it with no points. They came close to scoring on a punt into the Viking end -zone, that the Vikings would normally have conceded a point on, but receiver Grant Garrow kicked the ball back out oand Listowel recovered. The Viking coaches were less than im- pressed by Garrow's momentary lack of concentration, but as it turned out, the Goderich defence held and the Vikings went on to record the shutout victory. OPENED SCORING The Vikings opened the scoring in the se- cond quarter, when Joe Melady kicked a 24 - yard single on a wide field goal attempt. The Vikings got the ball into field goal range following a Listowel fumble, on a Goderich third -down punt. Kevin Feagan recovered the loose ball for the Vikes. Tailback Ed Craig scored the Vikings first touchdown on a 24 -yard run, capping the Vikes next offensive drive. Melady's con- vert made the score 8-0. It looked as though the half would end that way, but on the last play before halftime, the Lords virtually handed Goderich another touchdown. A field goal attempt by the Vikings was fielded in the endzone by a Lord's receiver who tried to kick the ball out of the endzone. In a bit of retributive justice, it was the Vik- ings' Grant Garrow who caught the ball at the 10 -yard line and ran it in for the Viking major. Melady's convert made the halftime score 15-0. DOMINANT FORCE From here on it was all over but the shouting. The Viking offence had taken charge. They moved the ball over 300 yards on the day. As usual the offensive line was a dominant force. Coach Ray Donnelly refered to them as "The best offensive line I have ever coach- ed." The line combines size and quickness in a rare melding of these two qualities. Donnelly also commented on their pride and desire to improve. Along with running backs Ed Craig and John McGraw and good blocking backs such as Shawn Rahbek, the offensive line contributed greatly to the Vik- ings' success this season. It's hard to single out any part of the team as being the strength of the Vikings. There were no weak spots, as several hundred fans saw here Saturday. The defence probably played their best game of the year, causing three Listowel funbles and intercepting two passes. The line, linebackers and secondary all had strong games. SECOND HALF The Vikings got two more touchdowns in the second half. Ed Craig and John McGraw, the Vikings twin tailbacks, each scored on five -yard runs. Joe Melady, who has provided the big foot for the Vikings all year, kicked a convert, a 35 -yard field single and a 34 -yard field goal to add another dimension to the Viking at- tack. His . punting and the downfield coverage that went with it, helped keep Listowel from gaining good field position. The championship for the Viking Seniors was their fourth in a row and their tenth in the last 13 years. The team got their tradiltibnal victory ride on the town's fire truck Saturday and was honored, at a recognition assembly of the student body, Monday morning. At that time, team members were presented with the Huron -Perth championship medals and the pennant and trophy were presented to GDCI principal Herb Murphy by team cap- tain Dave Weaver. The Vikings will be losing a great many players through graduation. There were on- ly 24 players on the team, but if it lacked anything in quantity, it made up for it in quality. Viking coaches Ray Donnelly and Chris Connor knew they had the potential to work with when the team began workouts in August. They did their job by moulding the Vik- ings into one of the strongest football teams the school has ever produced. In a school with the football tradition that GDCI has, that is some kind of achievement. Shawn Rahbek (35) of the GDCI senior Vikings is stacked up by the Listowel defence on this running play in the league championship game played here Saturday. Goderich won the game 32-0. Dave Weaver, Shawn Doherty and Dave Almasi combined efforts to make this tackle in the Huron -Perth championship game here Saturday as Ken Van Osch moves in to help out. Goderich won the league title with a 32-0 win. Members of the GDCI senior Viking defence converge on a Listowel ball carrier in the rain -soaked Huron -Perth championship game here Saturday. Goderich claimed the league title with a 32-0 win over Listowel. Grant Garrow (11) who scored one Viking touchdown, offers congratulations to team-mate Ray Vanstone after Goderich won the Huron -Perth championship here Saturday with a 320 win over Listowel. "What's wrong with the Leafs?" Team lacks intangibles This is my "What's wrong with the Leafs?" column. It's sort of wintertime tradition with sportswriters; almost an obligation. Ever since the Toronto Maple Laughs last Stanley Cup victory back in 1967, sports scribes from Sarnia to Sudbury have been making jest of Ontario's excuse for an NHL entry. Some writers like to leave this column for later in the season, when the Leaf have compiled a longer list of lamentable statistics. I thought I would get it out of the way early this year because, though the season is still young, the Leafs have already done more bumbling than most teams do in an entire year. Toronto began this year sporting a new look; featuring youth and promise. New coach, Dan Maloney – new goaltenders, Ken Wregget and Alan Bester – new defen- sive prospect, 18 -year-old Al Iafrate. In short, just the sort of injection of new blood the team needs, right? Not exactly. The new blood approach has ivott fi ixa ey needed a shake-up. The Leafs don't need a shake-up; they need shock treatment. Not the kind of jolt they get when Leaf owner Harold Ballard digs into his bot- tomless bag of insults, as he does at least once per season. That only serves to discourage the players, who are discouraged enough just playing for the sad sack squad. No. What the team needs is a whole new set of priorities and objectives. New coaches come in. New players are obtain- ed. But each time, the newcomers come in with a very modest set of objectives: respectibility, making the playoffs – things that a team with the Leaf's potential should be taking for granted. 4It may sound far-fetched to say the team has potential, but compare their line-up and it's pitiful record (currently 3-9-3) with say that of the Montreal Canadians, cur- rently contesting the lead in the Wales division. The former Flying Frenchmen took stock of their assets just before last year's BY PATRICK RAFTIS despite a discouraging inventory report. Former superstar Guy Lafleur, once the league's leading scorer, is but a shadow of his former self. Veteran defenceman Larry Robinson, while still solid, is getting a little long in the tooth, as were a number of other key players (Steve Shutt, Pierre Monde). With only one major change, the promo- tion of minor league goaltender Steve Pen- ney, the Canadians suddenly became a contender. Armed with little more than a change of attitude, they knocked off the powerful Quebec Nordiques in the Les Habs have carried last year's phenomenal playoff performance into this season and at this point trail only the defending champion Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. There is no reason the Leaf's cannot duplicate or improve upon the success the rejuvinated Habs have enjoyed. Unlike Montreal's, Toronto's roster contains a few players with the capacity to be real stars. They already have the defensive anchor that every team needs, in Borje Salming. They have two of the best young goaltenders in hockey. They also have guys who can score when motivated. Rick Vaive, Dan Daoust, John Anderson, Bill Derlago all have the poten- tial to outscore Montreal's defence - oriented forwards. Iafrate has already shown he can play in the big time. He has speed and poise and is talented in the almost forgotten art of clean, hard bodychecking. These players alone, should be enough to keep any team running in at least the mid - r dle of the pack in the feeble Norris divi- sion . Unfortunately, talent alone does not make a winner. A team needs such in- tangibles as desire, pride and plain old spunk. Things not easily attained in the pressure -cooker atmosphere at Maple Leaf Gardens. Part of the blame for the poor Leaf teams in recent years has to fall on the shoulders of the fans, who continue to pack the arena to watch mediocre to abysmal hockey. As long as they continue to come, managment has no incentive to pour in the money nessecary to make a good team. Leaf Captain Rick Vaive received only boos from the crowd for his efforts during a recent scoring slump, from which he is only now, slowly coming out of. Vaive's slump would probably not have been so noticable if the team had a bench full of players, willing to work as hard as he does, to take up the slack.