On what was an up and and down day for the Cumberland Panthers Football Club during which the tyke and peewee teams both lost to their Kanata counterparts, the mosquito and bantam teams were able to emerge victorious and finish the regular season with identical
8-0 records and sole possession of the regular season championship.

Cumberland Panthers tyke quarterback Grayson Rouleau tries to evade a Kanata Stallion defender during their final regular season game on Sunday. Despite losing 61-26, the Panthers will still finish in second place with a 7-1 record. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

The mosquito Panthers built up a 24-0 lead on touchdowns by Rocco Della Vedova, Toni Clement and Alexander Anderson, before the Stallions finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a long kickoff return for a touchdown near the end of the first half.

The second half was all Panthers with Anderson adding another touchdown along with two majors by Evan Nicholls. Kanata would add a second touchdown in the third quarter , but it was nowhere near enough as the final score was 46-12 in favour of Cumberland. Kicker Leo Gingras went five for six in the two point conversion department for a total of 10 points.

The bantam squad had an equally successful day, besting their Kanata counterparts by a score of 41-24. Both teams will now go into the NCAFA playoffs as the number one seed, giving them homefield advantage all the way to the A-Cup finals.

The Panthers' tyke team was hoping to join their older clubmates in the ranks of the undefeated, but they dug themselves into a deep hole in the first half thanks to a number of untimely turnovers that allowed Kanata to take a 30-0 halftime lead.

The Panthers did mount a mini-comeback at the start of the second half with back-to-back touchdowns by Jacob Kavanaugh, but the Stallions weren't done scoring yet, adding four more touchdowns before the end of the game.

The Panthers tried to keep pace with a pair of touchdowns from Grayson Rouleau, but it was not enough as the hole they had dug themselves in the first half was just to deep to dig themselves out of. The final score was 61-26 in favour of the Stallions.

The loss leaves the Panther tykes with a 7-1 record, likely goog enough for second place and homefield advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Panthers peewee team was also roughed up by the Stallions, losing 21-12. The loss means they will finish the regular season in third place with a 6-2 record. The Nepean Eagles could also finish the regular season with a 6-2 record should they win their final game against the Gatineau Vikings, but the Panthers would win the tiebreaker based on their 38-0 win over the Eagles on Sept.17.

All four Panther teams will be hosting the first round of the playoffs at Millennium Park next weekend with the hope of advancing to the A-Cup semi-finals.