IT turns out all the Argyle Pipers football team needed to get into the win column was some good old home cooking.
At least, that's how it seemed after the Pipers stormed to a 36-0 win over Eric Hamber secondary Saturday in the first home game played at Argyle in 31 years. The school restarted its football program last fall but through one year of Tier 2 play in 2011 and half a season of AA ball this year they had yet to taste victory before Saturday. They had also not experienced a home game. That all changed in a big way Saturday when the Pipers, played onto the field before the game by a bagpiper, proceeded to make a little school history.
"All of the (players) were so excited to be part of this," said Dave Heskin, co-head coach along with Milan Boljuncic. "We'd hyped it up, we'd hyped up the fact that this was this homecoming and it was a big special game and you're going to be part of history here because you're part of the team that restarted the program. They were all so excited to see that we came out with a win in front of the crowd."
Not only had the Pipers failed to register a win in their first four games this season, they'd also failed to score a single point. Grade 12 running back Stuart Bourne ended Argyle's scoreless streak early in the contest, punching in a one-yard plunge to get the party started. Bourne did a lot of the dirty work to get the ball to the goal line and Heskin said he was happy to see the senior break through for the historic score.
"We were right down on the goal line so he just had to hammer it in," he said. "You could just see the sigh of relief on the sidelines from the players, from Stu knowing that he got it in there and it was done and over with. . . . It's the monkey off our back. We know we can score now. We have the ability to do it and we did it in convincing fashion."
The Pipers continued to pound away on the ground throughout the game with running backs Trevor Yip and Brian Simmons also finding the end zone. Simmons added a punt return touchdown and the Pipers also got some points from their defence, forcing Hamber into two safety touches. Jonathan Bush led the way on defence with eight tackles while Joe Stewart registered five tackles and Yip added four tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.
A large crowd of parents, students, junior players and fans showed up to watch despite a torrential downpour that greeted the teams at the start of the game. One interested party on the sidelines was Dave Backie, the last Piper head coach who guided the team before it folded in the early 1980s. Backie's presence provided inspiration for the new regime.
"That was really neat for Milan and I as the coaches - it was the passing of the torch, so to speak," said Heskin.
