Football finale

Tigers fans didn't wait for the game. They cheered for Dal on the bus ride to Saint John. (Michelle Hampson Photo)

In 1967, Bruce MacLellan, Barrie Black and Bob Lewington played for Dalhousie’s football team. On Saturday, as they headed to Saint John, N.B. to watch the Tigers play the UNB’s Seawolves for the Moosehead Cup, the men’s faces lit up with boyish grins as they talked football.

The Dal football team has been resurrected after 34 years. This is the first year football is back, and the team made it to the championship. It seems miraculous that they made it so far so fast.

Two buses of supporters, sporting black and gold scarves, face paint, sweaters and hats, woke bright and early to leave the SUB at 8 a.m. Everyone was smiling, holding thundersticks and whistles. This moment felt like something out of a movie, with the team playing in the championship, enthusiastic alumni aboard, and faces glowing with anticipation. Heck, there was even a rainbow in the sky as the buses left Halifax.

We lost 40 to 6.

“They were so much bigger and stronger than we were,” said Mike Tanner, head coach of the football team. “They were more experienced and we had no answer for them.”

Dal scored six points in the first quarter, with a 68-yard punt return by Greg Pelly. Dal supporters missed the touchdown by a few minutes, as their buses were delayed slightly from the weather—brief but heavy snow, followed by some rain.

Coach Tanner gave kudos the Tigers’ defence. “Our offence was horrible. We just couldn't move the ball because of the (weather) conditions and because of their size. The best team won the day, there's no question.”

After the game, defensive captain Bryce Wade said “I think we had a great season. We came together as a team. We weren’t ready to win a championship yet – St. John certainly was and that was the outcome today. Hopefully next year we'll back stronger and compete with these guys.”

Dal supporters didn’t seem too fazed by the score. The group of 50 alumni, family and fans kept up a steady stream of cheering throughout the game. There were three times as many UNB supporters in the crowd since it was their home game, but their cheering was barely heard with the Tiger fans around.

Jim Wilson, the man behind the re-establishing the team, was by far the most enthusiastic. “We cheer well above our weight class.”

Mr. Wilson, who is on the board of governors at Dal, has spent almost a whole year getting this team up and playing again. He co-created the Founders Club, a group of alumni who pitched in money for the team.

He said Dal means “A hell of a lot more than it did to me 12 months ago.”

“There's so many stories that I've heard this year that just really showed me that we were doing the right thing. And I'm glad we did it. It took a lot of hard work and it took a lot of time and it took a lot of effort, but we pulled it off,” he said on the trip back to Halifax, as the bus of supporters stopped for some beer and food on the way home.

A Dal supporter gets her face painted during the third quarter of Saturday's championship game. (Michelle Hampson Photo)

Mo Kbeili, 22, is a student who came along to cheer for the team at Saturday’s game. “I think it’s something that really helps build school spirit and I’d really like to see it in the future... I really love the fact that alumni decided to organize this and I’m very proud to be at a school where alumni care.”

Alumnus Bruce MacLellan, whose son played defence at Saturday’s game, was clearly happy football is back. “We were watching it for years, hoping it (football at Dal) was going to start up again.”

“Over time, what I've realized is that you only really needed to have a few good memories to last... Thirty years later you can still remember that tackle or that catch, you know?”

One of his memories stands out from the rest. “I scored a touchdown against Saint Mary's when we beat them in my third year. That was pretty big.”

Barrie Black jumped in, “You were a rookie in my third year... We put Bruce in and the other team didn’t expect it at all, and you were fast. You started running sweeps on them and you hit a hell of a game.”

Bob Lewington said, “It was a classic team in the sense that we are highly supportive and very proud of everything we accomplished.”

He recalls one game where there were “no less than 5,000” people in the stands and Dal had the first kick off. “We marched down the field and scored the first touchdown, so we were up seven to nothing against the highly respected St. FX X-men. Well, people in the stands were just going berserk.”

Despite the glorious start, Dal lost 105 to 20. “We felt like we let the school down when we lost that game,” said Mr. Lewington quietly. “But we actually pushed their defence around and nobody else I heard of scored 20 points or came close to it. So from that perspective, we felt the game was semi-successful.”

For next year, Coach Tanner says the coaches will get the team on a weight program. “We need some big linemen to show up next year, and if they do, we've got some real good skill guys. We're pretty excited about next year.”