On Monday night, the Grant Park Pirates will take on Vincent Massey Collegiate with the ANAVETS Bowl on the line. Under Kelsey McKay, the Trojans have won the Division 1 title twice in their school’s history, while the Pirates are looking for their first top-tier championship and fourth overall. And while the Pirates are back in the Division 1 championship for the first time since 2003, make no mistake about it, they’re by no means the underdog in this game.
Grant Park, the No. 1 seed, are 5-0 on the season, including two wins over powerhouse St. Paul’s. Dating back to 2019, when Grant Park won the JV championship, their current cohort is 14-0 and will look to complete the most impressive run in school history (the 2010-12 cohort advanced to the JV final in grade ten, won the D2 championship in 2011 and advanced to the finals in 2012) with a victory against VMC at East Side at 7 p.m.
Leading the charge all season has been the Pirates ferocious defence. All 12 players, along with the team’s backups, bring a physical edge to their game and can stop opponents in their tracks at the line of scrimmage. Grant Park hasn’t allowed more than 15 points all season, and it starts with up front, with the likes of Kyle Watt – a former captain for Team Manitoba at the U16 level who some feel is the best overall player in Division 1 – as well as Carlito Ardiles, a former bantam champ with Valour, Tiano Pasta, one of the league’s best edge rushers and Nathaniel Lisak, a 6’2”, 285-pound menace who commands the interior.
Of the four players mentioned, it’s Lisak’s progression on the field that stands out. The ultimate competitor, he previously participated in figure skating, basketball and shotput before finding his niche on the gridiron in the spring of grade eight. Blessed with natural athleticism, speed, raw power and self-described “violence and nastiness,” he thrives in his position and has a competitive edge that any school would love.
“Especially when we do one-on-ones in practice, when I lose a rep, I want that guy right after because I want to make sure that I can beat him. That’s I think, one of the biggest parts that’s helped me get so good,” he says.
“I didn’t know football at all, so I used my competitive edge to learn as much as possible and get as big, fast and strong as I could, since I was already behind a lot of the better players because they’d been playing football since they were seven. I had to compete more than them every day just to catch up to them, and if I am better than them, I have to compete to make sure that I stay better than them.”
Nonstop work ethic
Lisak’s growth as a player is directly tied to his competitiveness and work ethic. After grade nine, a loss in the JV finals to the Trojans, he vowed to do everything he could to help the team win a championship the following year. Thanks to some tutelage from former coach Brett MacFarlane, he dedicated himself to the weight room and furthered his football IQ. The results were evident.
In grade ten, Grant Park ran the table to win their first-ever JV title, with Lisak showcasing the power and aggressiveness that he’d been working on behind the scenes. He can now squat over 500 pounds and can power clean three plates. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he lost his grade 11 season, he continued to grind, as did his teammates.
“I think especially with us going undefeated this year, a big part of it was that we didn’t break off when COVID started. We were still talking with each other every day in our group chat, we saw each other in the halls, we tried to train with each other following COVID restrictions, and just make sure that everything was okay. I think it ended up paying off when training camp started, because we still had the same team chemistry, if not stronger than before.”
Lisak – a dedicated student with a 4.0 GPA who has multiple U SPORTS offers – is a self-admitted “performer” on the field who thrives in big games. He had seven tackles, five of which were for a loss, and a fumble recovery in Grant Park’s 11-7 win over Massey earlier in the season, along with 4.5 tackles, one of which was for a loss, and a forced fumble in the team’s regular season game against St. Paul’s. He anchors the line of scrimmage, but also has a motor that doesn’t stop, which is a testament to the speed work put in with Glenn Bruce.
“I like to get the other team on edge and get the fans involved and stuff like that. Mixing that with also being silent and putting in the work alone, helps me a lot,” he says. “You work in silence, but you celebrate so everyone can see.”
Lisak is one of 19 seniors on the roster this season, which also includes the likes of Watt, Pasta, fellow team captains Seth Chizda and Solomon Bond, defensive back Junior Munyaka, running back Coen Graham and receiver Mick Derosa. It’s a tight-knit roster that’s carried a chip on their shoulder ever since coming to high school, and the results speak for themselves.
“As much as our team works hard, we also got lucky with the group of guys that we have. We just have so much raw talent,” Lisak says. “With football players, especially in Winnipeg, they try to go to the good football schools but that wasn’t really us. After we were established, we just kind of kept our group together and I think that’s one of our biggest aspects, especially with us going undefeated this year.”
In order to complete a historic career, Lisak and company will need to knock off Massey for a second time, a feat that doesn’t happen often. The Trojans have an electric offence that can strike at a moment’s notice and Grant Park will have to be at their best. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say Lisak will be ready.
“Honestly, just coming back from COVID, I think everyone was just really excited about playing football. With me especially, it’s a big rush because it’s grade 12. I’m trying to put myself out there to make sure that I’m being seen as one of the best players in the country. If I’m helping the team win, and by the end of the season we could have a ring on our finger, I think that’s just the best part, especially being the first team to do that at Division 1.”