42nd McCallister Cup
London Tigers VS. Ottawa Royals - Western Fair Stadium - October 2, 1960 - 6 PM ET - Forecast: Clear - Windy - 14ºC | 57ºF
1st Q
As the McCallister Cup approached, there were many critics pointing out how QB Riley Kiernan might struggle in the big one considering he has missed the previous two games due to injury. However, Kiernan and the Tigers would shut them up real quick. On the team’s opening drive, Kiernan meticulously picked apart the Royals defence. They executed play after play marching down the field effortlessly. Kiernan would then find WR Benedict Spencer for a touchdown and the 7-0 lead. The Royals would not be so good on their opening drive, as their first play was blown up by DL Olympus Heights breaking through the line to stop RB Alexei Volkov for a 4-yard loss. The Tigers would get the ball back after the 2 and out and would continue to add to their lead. Kiernan would connect with WR Max Sutton on a 43-yard bomb to the house to make it 14-0. The Royals would not go the entire quarter without a score as QB Jean Matieau would lead his own offence down to the endzone. He would connect with WR Mackenzie Jones to cut the Tigers’ lead in half.
LDN 14-7 OTT
2nd Q
The Tigers would keep the ball moving in the second quarter with an early field goal drive. The Royals would continue to struggle on offence with the Tigers’ D-line turning up the pressure. It would remain 17-7 till the final minutes of the quarter. Kiernan would lead the Tigers on another big drive, taking them down to the 5 before RB Clifford Russell took it in to make it 24-7. With limited time the Royals looked to be potentially running down the clock to get to the half, but on second and 6, they pulled a bit of trickery. RB Alexei Volkov would take the handoff, before flipping it to WR Mackenzie Jones. With Jones going to the right side, he would turn back and toss it back to Matieau who would find WR Chester Bennett downfield. It was a very similar play to the one the Royals used to win the 1956 McCallister Cup on the last play in overtime against Riley Kiernan’s Athletics. The big play would set up WR Truman Harry for the touchdown cutting the lead to 10 before the break.
LDN 24-14 OTT
3rd Q
Both teams came out of the break knowing this game was far from over. It seemed like the Royals were especially keen on the potential comeback. The Royals typically let RB Iyannough Moreland return kicks, but they threw RB Alexei Volkov on the field. The Tigers were not ready for Volkov and the veteran back weaved his way through the entire team and took the ball back to the endzone to make it a 3-point game not even a minute into the quarter. The Tigers would take the field looking to rebound but the Royals would bring the pressure. DL Olaf Viktorsson would grab a sack and force the Tigers to punt. A couple of drives later the Tigers would be moving the ball, but the Royals would come up with a huge play. QB Riley Kiernan would be faced with pressure from DL Troy Hunt, and he would look to get it off quickly, however, as the ball left Kiernan’s hands, Olaf Viktorsson would get his arms up to deflect the ball. DB Mingan Oliver saw the ball and cut right towards it and picked it off. The Royals would take over, but their next drive would come with a major loss. Matieau would fire a quick crossing pass to WR Mackenzie Jones on the second play of the drive, but as he was coming across LB Wilson Rockwood-Barnes would hit him before the ball was there. The helmet of Rockwood-Barnes would with Jones’ head leaving the receiver lying on the ground motionless. Jones would get taken off by doctors after regaining consciousness, and Barnes would get flagged, though he was very apologetic and making sure Jones was okay. The Royals would take advantage of the penalty and would get into the endzone with WR Chester Bennett to suddenly take the lead 24-28 following 21 unanswered points. The Tigers would not go away, as they would bounce back on the ensuing drive. Kiernan would lead the Tigers back down the other way, finding WR Max Sutton for a big gain and then letting RB Clifford Russell score his second of the game to retake the lead before the final quarter.
LDN 31-28 OTT
4th Q
The final quarter would be intense, as the Tigers looked to their defence to try and bring this game home. They would force the Royals 2 and out early, but the big moment came on the next drive with DL Olympus Heights getting around and was about to sack Matieau. The QB still had an open man so he got the ball away, except DL Dee Floyd also got in his face and the ball fluttered into the arms of LB Aengus Lynch. The Tigers would not score, but following another stop, and almost another pick from DB Jackson Miles, the offence would get back to the endzone with Kiernan connecting with WR Max Sutton for the second time in the game to make it 38-28. The Royals would not be done however and would start their second comeback attempt of the game. RB Alexei Volkov, despite having the kick return touchdown was not having his way with the Tigers’ defence, but he finally broke free for a 36-yard scramble to put the Royals in range for a K Maurice Lafayette field goal. The Royals still had enough time to get the ball back and would once again be pushing to get back to the endzone. WR Toni Radovanovic, who replaced Mackenzie Jones, would make a big play to set up the Royals on the 7-yard line for 1st and Goal. Matieau would look to WR Truman Harry in the endzone on the first play, but the ball would be dropped by the WR with DB Ricardo Salvador on him. On second down, Matieau would scramble in the pocket but didn’t like what he saw so threw a tough pass toward WR Chester Bennett, which was too high and went out the back of the endzone. They faced 3rd and Goal with just over a minute to go. Jean Matieau would look to do whatever he could on the play. Dropping back and then rolling out to escape pressure. Once again the Tigers’ secondary had all the WRs locked down. With defenders closing in on Matieau, he would have to throw it. The ball would manage to get to the hands of Chester Bennett, but DB Jackson Miles would be able to force it out causing the Royals to turn it over. However, Kiernan and the Tigers would need to get a first down to secure the game. And on first down, RB Clifford Russell would pick up 4, making it second and 6. On second down, Russell would pick up another 3 to make it 3rd and 3. Time would be only 10 seconds left by the time the clock ran so the Tigers took the delay of game penalty to set up 3rd and 7 with 10 seconds on the clock. They lined up to punt, but instead of K Nimrod Handsworth behind the snap for the punt, the Tigers had WR Max Sutton. The Royals were not expecting that and were confused. Sutton would take the snap and he would just go to literally run the clock out. The WR would run around eventually back towards the endzone. As soon as he heard the crowd count down to 0, he fell in the endzone sacrificing the safety but ending the game 38-33 and clinching the Tigers their first-ever championship in franchise history.
LB Benjamin Pittman LDN - Day-to-Day
WR Mackenzie Jones OTT - 5 Weeks
LB Douglas MacDougall OTT - Day-to-Day
OL Bravon Covington OTT - Day-to-Day
McCallister Cup MVP
1960 McCallister Cup Champions
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