By Fred Groves
Trailing by a dozen points with less than three minutes to play, the Essex Ravens battled back to beat the visiting London Junior Mustangs 45-42 in Ontario Junior Varsity Football League action Saturday night.
The win, secured at the University of Windsor Alumni Field, has the Ravens sitting at 2-1 which they will take all the way up to Sault Ste. Marie this Saturday.
Against the Mustangs, Essex was behind 42-30 before head coach Glen Mills, fresh off the plane from Edmonton where he was a guest coach with the CFL’s Eskimos, put a charge under his team which worked in a big way.
After a tough first quarter in which standout receiver Omar Hayes-Williams and quarterback Anthony Bontorin had trouble getting on the same page, the duo came through huge in the last couple of minutes of the game.
With a strong line in front of him, Bontorin unloaded with a bomb to the speeding Hayes-Williams who, after a great catch, eluded his tackle and went in for the major. That pulled the hosts to within striking distance and they did not disappoint their loyal fans.
London handed the ball over at mid-field on downs and then, with 41 ticks left on the clock, Bontorin found his favourite target on the day once again. Essex opted for, and completed the two-point conversion to seal the deal.
Kicker Dante Brown had an outstanding game for the Ravens as he booted three field goals and was perfect on all his point afters.
The Ravens will play host to Hamilton on June 20.