The 1982 Renfrew Trojans were far from being a dominant team but start to finish but when all the dust settled at the end of their season they stood tall as the best in the country becoming just the second team from British Columbia to capture the Canadian Championship and the first since the 1947 Vancouver Blue Bombers to do so.
Led by co-head coaches Alex Szabo and Dave Easley, the Trojans stumbled to a 4-5 regular season record but snuck into the final playoff spot where they really got on a roll. A last-second blocked field goal in the BC Semi-Final against the Richmond Raiders propelled them to an 18-17 victory which set up a BC Final showdown against the first-place Okanagan Sun whom they managed to easily dispatch by a 22-8 score. From there, the Trojans went on to defeat the nationally top-raned Regina Rams in the Western Canadian Final at Empire Stadium by a 17-14 sending them to their first-ever Canadian Championship appearance. They completed their Cinderella season at Empire Stadium in front of 2,877 fans by pounding the heavily-favoured Eastern Canadian Champions Montreal Jr. Concordes 46-0 in the title game, setting records for largest margin of victory and most lopsided shutout in a championship game in the process.
The Trojans are considered by many as the last “genuine” community-based team from BC to win the national junior championship with their entire roster – including all the coaching staff – being raised in the Lower Mainland and all having played either community or high school football in the Lower Mainland prior to joining the Trojans.
The Trojans placed six players on the BC All-Star Team that season: Receiver Bill Barr, Tackle Bryant Smeeth, Guard Dennis Serraglio, End Walter Marconato, Linebacker Dan Burgunder and Defensive Back Jerome Erdman.
