Ottawa Sooners 17, Vancouver Meralomas 04
(November 23rd, 1974, Empire Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia)

 

The Sooners travelled to Empire Stadium in Vancouver to participate in their fourth National Championship game in the last six seasons, this one against Vancouver Meralomas.  Motivation was not an issue; their three previous National Championship contests ended in losses, including a 9-0 shutout to Regina the previous season.

They generated an 8-2 regular season record in 1974 following a move from the Quebec Junior Football League to the Ontario Football Conference.  They defeated the Verdun Maple Leafs 27-17 in the first round of the playoffs, then the Niagara Regional Raiders and the Hamilton Hurricanes 69-14 and 33-30 in a pair of two-game, total points series to earn the trip out west.



Though quarterback Mark McCloskey was named player of the game, special teams won the day.  The Sooners blocked two Vancouver punts and one field goal attempt.  Torindo Panetta registered the first blocked punt, and Mike Morris was the beneficiary as he recovered the ball in the endzone for a touchdown.  Lyle Johnson had the other block.

Following the second block, a 48-yard pass from McCloskey to tight end Rick Edmunds, and later a 10-yard bootleg by McCloskey, set up the team's other touchdown; a 1-yard run by fullback Ed Raicevic.

The Sooner' defense kept the team out of trouble on a couple of occasions.  They held a Vancouver recovery of a Sooners fumble in Ottawa territory to a single point on a missed field goal, and linebacker Paul Moses' sack of Meralomas QB Tom Reimer for an 18-yard loss following another Vancouver fumble recovery on the Ottawa 11 prevented any major damage from being done.

Raicevic finished the game with 91 rushing yards and Lyle Johnson contributed another 55, all in the fourth quarter, to stick a fork in it.  When it was all said and done, the Sooners had perfect balance, 149 yards rushing, 149 yards passing, and their first National Championship.