Cochrane football player Leighten Boynton received his Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) championship ring at St. Clair College’s athletics awards banquet on Thursday night, recognizing his team’s historic national title win.
“It’s super massive, with some nice green, and it has our numbers on one side and the score on the other,” said Boynton. “It has the CJFL National Championship logo embedded into the underside and our logo in the centre. It’s super cool.”
The team’s accomplishments were saved for the final presentation of the night in what proved to be a memorable banquet for Boynton.
The Saints went undefeated in 2024 and capped it off by capturing their first CJFL national championship. In front of 2,500 fans, they erased a 22–9 first-half deficit to defeat the Okanagan Sun 37–22 in the Canadian Bowl.
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It was a much different story the previous year, when the Saints went undefeated into the CJFL semifinals, only to be shut out 43–0 by the Saskatoon Hilltops.
“I think it was on our minds going into the off-season,” Boynton said. “We knew that a lot of our errors were mental, and we worked hard on those in the off-season. Winning the national championship means a lot, especially after putting in all that hard work.”
Also working in their favour was the support of a home crowd. As it was Ontario’s turn to host the national championship game, the final was played at St. Clair.
“It was great to have so many people out there supporting us,” said Boynton.
He’s enjoying his time with the Saints, and said the team developed an even tighter bond in his second season.
“The college makes sure we have team-building activities, lots of meals and get-togethers so we’re always together. It makes it a lot easier to play when you’re friends off the field, too. You don’t just show up for two hours and not talk to each other.”
Boynton also praised the team’s loyal fan base.
“The stands are always full for all our games — no matter who we’re playing or what the score is, they’re always there supporting us. They’re so great.”
Boynton, 19, was recruited from the Bow Valley Bobcats high school program. The 6-foot-1, 340-pound offensive line guard is expected to return next season while completing his second diploma at the college.
The team continues its off-season training until the main camp opens the second week of July.
