There were worries as to whether the Signmen would remain competitive in a tougher 16-team loop, but those concerns were dispelled when McMillen repeated as league scoring champ and Owen Sound sailed to the top of the standings and captured a fourth consecutive championship – knocking off the Toronto Beaches in a bitter series that was decided in overtime of the seventh game. For the first time, Owen Sound would compete for a national junior lacrosse championship – the Founders Cup. And although they were favoured to win the tournament in Baie Comeau, Quebec, two tough losses to Toronto and Edmonton forced the Signmen into a bronze-medal match, which they won. Owen Sound stumbled the following year, exiting the playoffs after one round despite Dave Cruickshank's scoring title, but the Scenic City squad bounced back in style in 1982. This time there would be no denying the Signmen, who finished first and lost only two of 18 playoff games, recapturing the Ontario championship and adding their first Canadian title at the Founders Cup in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Steve Baker and Cruickshank led the offence as the Signmen capped a perfect national tournament with a 13–10 win over Delta, B.C., in the gold-medal game. The team stayed competitive for a couple of years but entered a period of mediocrity that saw the Signmen bottom out in 1988, finishing last in their division and failing to make the playoffs. They rebounded in 1989 with the help of Jamie Grimoldby, who was named the league's rookie of the year, but were swept from the playoffs. That marked the end of Signs by Rutherford's long and fruitful sponsorship of the team. The Van Dolder family of Annan came on board as primary sponsor in 1990 and the team was renamed the Flying Dutchmen. There were still some struggles, with the team failing to make the playoffs again in 1992, but the pieces all fell into place the following year. Derek Forbes took over as coach and, with Grimoldby and goaltender Keith Peer rejoining the team after spending 1991 with Sarnia in Junior A ranks, the Dutchies were the best team in the league. They finished first and swept two playoff series before running into the Orillia Kings in the league final. It didn't look good for Owen Sound after Orillia won the first two games of the final, at which point the series was suspended so both teams could represent Ontario at the Founders Cup in Winnipeg. Orillia won again in their first tournament game, but Owen Sound was untouchable after that, taking its next three round-robin games by a combined score of 91–10 and setting up another showdown against the Kings.