Sault Ste. Marie Cougars hang in  OFL Championship to end 2026 London Beefeaters season

The Sault Ste. Marie Cougars got an early jump and held on to beat the London Beefeaters 26-21 in the OFL championship on Oct. 17 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Two first-quarter touchdowns gave the unbeaten Cougars a 14-0 lead. The Beefs fought hard, but that cushion kept Sault Ste. Marie in front for good and ended an excellent London season.

London trailed 17-7 at the half. A pair of third-quarter touchdowns pulled the Beefeaters within a field goal, but defence decided it from there. The only points of the fourth quarter came on a Cougars safety.

London quarterback D.J. Fonti threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted twice.

Sault Ste. Marie once again leaned on its running game, racking up 248 yards on the ground. Sam Mustapha accounted for 180 of those yards on 22 carries.

Nick Seybold ran for a touchdown for the Beefeaters, and Nicholas Fonti added 58 yards on 11 carries.

London receivers Brandon Visouvath and Jason Leonard each caught TD passes.

Sincere Green was everywhere on defence again, leading all players with 10 solo tackles and 11 overall.

The Cougars will now face the Regina Thunder in a CJFL semi-final on Saturday, Oct. 24.

The Langley Rams take on the Westshore Rebels in the other semi.