PECI’s Jaydon Hass and his teammates play in the Jr. Boys COSSA rugby championships today at Mary Ann Sills park in Belleville. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
After losing the Bay of Quinte Jr. Boys Rugby finals to the Centennial Chargers last week, the PECI Panthers have an opportunity to redeem themselves Wednesday this week.
PECI hooks up with Kawartha champions Holy Cross at Mary Ann Sills Park Wednesday May 28 in one Central Ontario Secondary School Association semi final while Centennial meets Fenlon Falls in the other. If both the Panthers and Chargers win, a Bay of Quinte rematch is in the offing. A Central Ontario title and a trip to the 2025 Barbarian Cup is on the line.
The Panthers and the Chargers were both undefeated heading into the Bay of Quinte finals last week, having played to a 7-7 draw April 25.
After vanquishing the St. Paul’s Falcons 55-0 in the semis, the Panthers ultimately fell to the Chargers 34-7 in the gold medal final.
On the day, PECI got tries from Cole Byford (3), Brady Terpstra (2), Will Bolton, Parker Osborne, Carson Camp and Jack Baldwin. Ahmad Dandal and Jaydon Hass made kicks from the field.
PECI coach Doug Holt said PECI’s momentum didn’t roll from one game to the next.
“Unfortunately, we just couldn’t sustain that full team effort for 80 minutes and came out flat against Centennial. It was a learning opportunity for the boys. Rugby is a sport where you can’t take any minute off when you’re on the field against good teams. Hopefully we’ll bounce back and be ready for two games at COSSA.”
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