The 1902 Dominion Championship was a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

game that was played on November 15, 1902 at the Ottawa College Grounds in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

that determined the Senior Rugby Football champion of Canada for the 1902 season. The

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

(ORFU) champion

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

defeated the

Quebec Rugby Football Union The Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) was a football league consisting of teams from Quebec and formed in 1883. Eastern Ontario teams like Ottawa City and Ottawa College joined in 1894. League formation and play The QRFU was formed officially ...

(QRFU) champion, and defending national champion,

Ottawa College The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

in a 5–0 victory to win their third Dominion Championship. This was a re-match of the 1898 Dominion Championship game which the Rough Riders also won on the Ottawa College Grounds. The Rough Riders made their third appearance in the title game, all within five years, and it was the seventh appearance for Ottawa College with their only losses in the game coming from the Rough Riders.

Background

This was the last national championship game to be played with 15 players for each team on the field as rule changes took place after this season, reducing that number to 14 in some unions and to 12 in others. It was also the last game to be played in just two halves and not four quarters. Rule changes to the game of rugby football became inconsistent between the ORFU, QRFU, and Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU) which led to disputes that ultimately resulted in the cancellation of future championship games until one was finally played again in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

. The Rough Riders were favoured 2 to 1 to win the game, with even bets to double Ottawa College's score.

Game summary

The Rough Riders won the toss and chose the north goal since there was a slight wind advantage playing from that side. Hal Walters opened the scoring after receiving a throw-in which he punted to touch-in-goal where he scored one point for the Rough Riders. This was the Rough Riders' first point to be scored in a first half all year, although the club had only played two other games, both against the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

, due to the withdrawal of the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

. Later in the first half, following a muffed punt return by Ottawa College's O'Brien, Walters received a pass from Jim McGee and was able to run over the goal line for a touchdown, making the score 5–0 in favour of the Rough Riders. The convert attempt failed, so the score total remained at five. In the second half, Ottawa College had the wind advantage, but the Rough Riders focused on retaining possession of the ball and College was unable to score. It was estimated that the Rough Riders had possession of the ball 80% of the time while Hal Walters himself had the ball 60% of the time. The strategy by the Rough Riders proved successful as they maintained their lead and won their third Canadian Dominion Championship.

References

{{Ottawa Gee-Gees football navbox Rugby union competitions in Canada 1902 in Canadian football 1902 awards 1902 in Ontario Ottawa Gee-Gees football Ottawa Rough Riders