The Oak Park Raiders are back on top of the Winnipeg High School Football League mountain.
The Raiders battled back from seven points down in the fourth quarter to defeat the Dakota Lancers 22-17 to capture the ANAVETS Bowl on Thursday at Princess Auto Stadium.
Thursday night’s victory came in a rematch of last year’s final, ending the Lancers’ run after back-to-back titles.
Amyas Furst and Tavin Parani scored touchdowns for Oak Park. Both players also had interceptions and Parani was named the game’s most valuable player.
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The Raiders tied the game on a Parani 32-yard touchdown with under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and took the lead a few minutes later after the Lancers conceded a safety. Oak Park added a field goal after a Parani interception.
But the game was far from finished. With the Lancers driving the field in the final minute, Furst made an interception just inside the 20-yard line with 47 seconds left. That appeared to seal the Raiders victory, but they fumbled the football at their own 20-yard line with only 18 seconds left.
Dakota had two plays to score a touchdown for the win, but a pass was broken up in the end zone on the final play of the game to give the Raiders the title.
Reid Monkman and Khaleel Hosein scored TD’s for the Lancers in the loss.
The championship victory comes just months after the death of longtime Raiders head coach Stu Nixon.
It’s Oak Park’s eighth varsity high school football championship in school history, but first since 2014.
The St. Norbert Celtics won the AAA title earlier on Thursday with a 10-0 win over the Dryden Eagles in the Currie Bowl for the school’s first football championship.
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