By Josh Shwaykowski
Coming into the 2024 season, the Holland Hurricanes Football team had its eyes on the Atlantic Football League (AFL) championship trophy. But the team suffered a semi-final loss to the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds, cutting short their quest.
The Hurricanes' season started out well, as they beat defending AFL champions UNB in their season opener in Charlottetown. It was also the first time the `Canes had started the season with a win in five years.
“To start off the year with a win against the defending league champions felt good, and going into Week 2, 1-0 was a different, but great feeling,” said head coach Aaron MacIsaac.
The team would lose a hard-fought matchup against the Dalhousie Tigers 24-21, in their next game making them 1-1 on the season.
“Dal has been the one team we haven’t beat during my tenure, so I felt good about that game,” said MacIsaac. “I don’t like losing, but it was the first game against them that we took them to the ropes, it’s not something they just had in the bag, we made them work for that one.”
Holland College then blew out the Saint John Falcons in back-to-back games 43-10 and 44-0, pushing their record to 3-1.
Their next game was against the Reds, and the team was looking for another win as they were fighting for top spot in the conference.
But the `Canes never came to play in that game, suffering a tough 51-2 loss.
“It was one of those gut-check games,” said MacIsaac. “We got handled. I don’t know if it was running on the high of back-to-back wins or what, but it was not a great feeling, and a long bus ride home. But that allowed us to reflect on what went wrong.”
The Hurricanes went into their final regular season matchup against the Tigers looking to bounce back. They played well, but the close matchup would end with the Tigers coming out on top in a 31-28 overtime win.
Although they lost, they played a great game, and they were set to face the Reds in the AFL semi-final.
The `Canes came out flat again and allowed the Reds to take a commanding 21-0 lead halfway through the second quarter. A throwing touchdown by fourth-year Quarterback Hunter Prus, to second-year receiver Wolf Sym cut the Tigers lead to 21-7, but they would give up a rushing touchdown shortly after and find themselves down 28-7 at halftime.
“My approach to halftime was to just give the guys a couple minutes to let them just get out what they need to get out,” said MacIsaac. “Everyone handles adversity differently. Then my message was to just take a breath, this isn’t something new, let’s take a different perspective on our plays, what’s your job, what do you need to do to be successful at your job, and execute your assignment.”
Coming out of halftime, it looked like UNB was going to continue dominating, as they scored a touchdown early in the third quarter to make the game 35-7. But the ‘Canes started to claw back, and a touchdown got them to within three scores late in the third.
A field goal by the Reds would extend their lead, but Holland College wouldn’t give up, as another `Canes touchdown brought the game to 38-20. Unfortunately, that would end up being the final score, ending their season.
MacIsaac said the team just needed more time.
“Once we started to get going, the momentum shifted, guys started saying we can do this, we know what to do, but unfortunately, we just ran out of clock. I was proud of our guys, they locked in, and when we asked them to dig deeper, they did.”
He said this team is capable of being greater.
“There is so much that we can build upon, the guys are excited to come back because we’re right at the cusp of greatness. There are big things coming for sure, I’m excited for next year.”
Individually in 2025, several players were recognized with awards from the AFL. Named to the AFFL Offensive All-Star team was Aaron McArdle (receiver), Wolf Sym (receiver), Andy Wilson (offensive lineman), while Mathis Blais (defensive back), Dan Efosa-Idehen (defensive lineman) and Tyler Newson (linebacker) were named to the AFL Defensive All-Star team. Keegan Cardona (returner) and Simon Hales (kicker) were named to the AFL Special Teams All-Star team, with Hales also being named the AFL Special Teams Player of the Year. Additionally, Erron Beachey was named the Holland Hurricanes 2025 Male Rookie of the Year.
Connect with the men’s football `Canes at www.facebook.com/canesmfootball, www.x.com/canesmfootball and www.instagram.com/canesmfootball.
For more information on the Holland Hurricanes, please visit www.hollandhurricanes.com, www.facebook.com/hollandhurricanes, www.x.com/hc_Hurricanes and www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanes.
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