Eagles soar to junior football T2 title

   East Elgin's Centeno leads way to a 17-6 win against Ingersoll

  November 8, 2025

By Rob J. Ross

ST. THOMAS - The East Elgin Eagles are back as Thames Valley Region Athletics (TVRA) junior football tier two football champions.

A last second touchdown in the first half sparked the Eagles to a 17-6 win over the Ingersoll Blue Bombers in the final, November 7 at 1Password Park.

"The first half was a dog fight. We had a few mistakes but we over came them. We settled in and then the offence started," Eagles head coach Brad Russell said. "I got to give props to the offensive line. They started pushing and holding their blocks. They gave our runners time to do something. They were troopers in the second half.

"Our quarterback held his composure. He's a real leader, Brody Millard. We did a few quarterback keeps and Brody kept his head down and kept driving."

Chris Centeno scored a touchdown on a two yard trot, ran in for a two-point convert and kicked a field goal.

"I don't know how to describe it, but feels great," Centeno said. "Feels good since last year we didn't do so well. We lost almost every game and we lost in the playoffs to these guys. It feels good to beat them in the championship."

Centeno gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead in the second quarter, during a defensive first half.

Zander Friesen broke loose for a 40-yard scamper to the end zone on the final play of the first half, to put the Eagles up by nine.

Centeno did all the Eagles scoring in the second half with his TD and convert, for a 17-0 led.

Ingersoll scored in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

"I didn't know how we would come out because the last two games we came out pretty flat," said Friesen. "A good pump talk by our coaches got us energy. We never got down on each other and we never played like we were down."

The Eagles finished third in the tier two division, behind Ingersoll and first place Saunders.

East Elgin thumped Woodstock St. Mary's 34-7, in the quarters, before edging Strathroy DCI, 8-7, in the semifinals.

"We had a lot of Grade nine players last year and it was a learning year," Russell said. "This year everyone just stepped up. They grew. They learned the game of football better. I couldn't ask for a better group of guys."

Ingersoll squeaked by Saunders, 15-14, in their semifinal.

"(Ingersoll) played amazing. From earlier in the year to now, they improved so much. We were worried in the first half because they (Ingersoll) came to play football," Russell said. "It was a good back and forth match. We've been back and forth with Ingersoll the past few years."

A year ago, Ingersoll shutout the Eagles in semifinals, before losing the final to St. Joe's.

In the 2022 final, the Eagles disamantled the Bombers, 42-7, a year after losing the title game to Ingersoll.

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