OUA announces national nominees for football awards

A quick look at the OUA's nominees for major awards:

• Hec Crighton Award (top player): Josh Sacobie, Ottawa quarterback. The correct call. It's a regular-season award and Sacobie had a stellar senior season, putting up 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Sacobie, of Maliseet First Nation, N.B., would also be the first aboriginal player to win. He wouldn't be the first Hec Crighton winner off a team which fell short of the conference final; Queen's Larry Mohr (1985) and Tom Denison ('03) also did, just to name two.
• Presidents' Trophy (top defender): Anthony Maggiocomo, Laurier linebacker. On his career accomplishments, he's there with anyone. It's funny: The OUA has better defences, but doesn't seem to have a lot of lights-out defensive stars (one thinks of Yannick Carter or Jason Pottinger). Maggiocomo had a good senior season, leading the OUA in tackles.
• J.P. Metras (top lineman): Scott Evans, Laurier offensive tackle. The Golden Hawks led the OUA in yards-per-carry, and much of that was due to a line that had three fifth-year players and two OUA first-team all-stars.
• Peter Gorman Trophy (rookie of the year): Ryan Chmielewski, McMaster linebacker. It could have been either of two players from Niagara Falls, Chmielewski or Guelph defensive back Sebastian Howard. The national winner is probably not coming out of the OUA. The smart money might be on Regina receiver Jordan Sisco or Alberta d-back Rhys Coppens.
  
  Chmielewski emerged toward the end of the season. He'll be a good one for Mac. The Niagara Region, which knows from bumper crops, was well-represented among OUA rookies: Howard, Guelph kick returner Jedd Gardner and d-back James Savoie were all high school teammates there. Mac used to own that turf for recruiting.
• Russ Jackson Award (community involvement): Mike Goncalves, Toronto d-lineman. It's a nice reminder that the CIS is about developing people, not just players, although Goncalves produced good football for the Varsity Blues across his entire career.


• Frank Tindall (coach of the year): Pat Sheahan, Queen's. No team exceeded the widespread pre-season expectations during the regular season (important caveat) than the Golden Gaels. Sheahan's team had improved offensive line, defensive and special teams play. It's the fourth time he's been up for the national award; twice at Queen's and twice at Concordia. How many coaches have had that accolade at two schools, let alone in two conferences? (Blake Nill at Calgary will soon enough, though.)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.