Quarterback Noah Buckindale has led the Orillia Secondary School (OSS) junior boys' football team to the Simcoe County Athletic Association semifinals.
Buckindale began playing football when he was eight years old.
"Every Sunday night, I would watch football with my parents," he said. "It gave me that urge to play."
Buckindale signed up to play with the Huronia Stallions in the house-league program, following in the footsteps of his three older brothers.
"I watched them play for the Stallions as running backs and receivers before me. I wanted to be like them," he said.
The 15-year-old says the Stallions program has been invaluable to him.
"You can go into the Stallions with no knowledge of the game and come away being very knowledgeable in just two months," he said. "Coach Di Sabatino, Alvez, and Wiltshire do a great job and have taught me a lot."
While Buckindale plays quarterback for the Nighthawks in high school, he is a wide receiver with the Stallions.
"I like being able to just run and not having to worry about the big guys," he said. "I like to use my speed, too."
The player Buckindale patterns his game after most is Buffalo Bills receiver Stefon Diggs.
"He is so precise with the way he runs his routes. There is no wasted movement with it," he said.
This past season, Buckindale helped the Stallions win the Ontario Summer Football League varsity championship.
"The year before, in bantam, we made it all the way into the playoffs being undefeated and lost to Hamilton by four points," he explained. "We went to Western University to watch the varsity Stallions win the championship, and I told my parents I wanted to be there the next year."
In his first year at OSS, he wanted to keep working on his craft as a receiver but was put into the running back role. Because of his knowledge of the game and his talent, this year, the Nighthawks' coaches asked him to go under centre at quarterback.
"It's a bit different playing in high school compared to Stallions," he said. "It's less competitive and more about learning the basics from the great coaches we have here and having fun."
Buckindale says he has enjoyed the experience of playing with the Nighthawks.
"Ultimately, it's playing football, so I'm having fun."
He is also able to use his experience to teach some of his teammates, who are playing football for the first time.
"I enjoy that part of it. It's made me a better leader," he said.
After high school, Buckindale's dream is to continue playing football at the university level in Canada or the United States.
"That is definitely one of my goals," he said. "I'm aiming for Division 1. It's going to be challenging, but I think I can push through and get it."
While he plans to play out the entirety of his high school career at OSS, he may consider making a move to the Greater Toronto Area to gain more exposure to scouts.
"That's definitely something I've talked about with my parents," he said. "If it needs to be that way, then we will do it, but I think we like it here pretty well, too."
He hopes he can carve out a career in football. If it doesn't work out that way, he wants to be a firefighter like his father.
The Nighthawks will be led by Buckindale on Monday, when they travel to the Georgian College turf field in Barrie to take on the Barrie North Vikings in the semifinals. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
"I would definitely love to bring a championship home here," Buckindale said. "That would be a lot of fun."
