Author: O.J. Costello

The Bulldogs face a familiar foe this weekend in North Bay

For the third time this season the North Bay Bulldogs square off against the Ottawa Sooners. This time it is a playoff matchup in North Bay Saturday night.
Author of the article:Greg Estabrooks | North Bay Nugget
Published Jul 26, 2023

Saturday will be the seventh game of the season for the North Bay Bulldogs men and it will be third time in those seven games they have squared off against the Ottawa Sooners.

The Bulldogs were thinking it was going to be five straight two weeks ago when they jumped out to a 21-0 lead in Ottawa versus the Sooners. North Bay ended up losing that game 35-33, however, after Ottawa scored a last-minute touchdown.

The game had its ugly moments, as two Ottawa players received one- and two-game suspensions, respectively, from the Northern Football Conference after Bulldogs coach Marc Mathon sent video of a couple of plays from the game to the league.

Mathon said he isn’t concerned, however, about any bad blood between the two teams. He is more focused on getting his defence and special teams right after a meltdown of both in the Ottawa game.

“The keys for us are trying to limit their quarterback and heavy run attack,” said Mathon. “We also need to keep working on special teams.”

Jordan Heather threw five touchdown passes and three for well over 400 yards in the loss to the Sooners.

Heather told his teammates it is a huge week of practice to get ready for round three with Ottawa.

The Bulldogs quarterback runs the offence and looks forward to another shot at Ottawa. He said he knows what is at stake this Saturday.

“It is playoffs so that adds pressure to go out there and win,” said Heather. “The more prepared I am by watching film, the easier it comes. It was the only team we lost to, and we had that game well, but things did not go well with special teams. We have corrected those issues, I believe, so we are looking forward to beating them this weekend.”

The game takes place this Saturday at Mike O’Shea Field with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Original Article

2023 Week Eight Best Performance’s

Category Perf. Player Team Opponent Date
Most Points 18 Jacob Steringa NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
  18 Johann Jenkins HAM @ OTT July 22, 2023
Most Carries 14 Brandan Metz TCO vs SAR July 22, 2023
Most Rushing Yards 81 Fisher Bilz NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Longest Run 29 Josh Reason TCO vs SAR July 22, 2023
Receptions 8 Jacob Steringa NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Reception Yards 139 Jacob Steringa NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Longest Reception 63 Jacob Steringa NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Pass Attempts 29 Jordan Heather NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Pass Completions 26 Jordan Heather NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Passing Yards 409 Jordan Heather NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Tackles 12 Michael Reid SSM vs GTA July 22, 2023
Sacks 3 Michael Reid SSM vs GTA July 22, 2023
Tackles for Losses 3 Thomas Shaw OTT vs HAM July 22, 2023
Longest Punt 52 Ova Coca GTA @ SSM July 22, 2023
Longest Punt Return 34 Alonzo Clarke SSM vs GTA July 22, 2023
Longest Kickoff 72 Ova Coca GTA @ SSM July 22, 2023
Longest Kick Return 65 Jahmoy Sinclair OTT vs HAM July 22, 2023
Longest Interception Return 30 Jendayi McBean GTA @ SSM July 22, 2023
  30 Kory Benoit NBY vs SUD July 22, 2023
Longest Fumble Return 12 Jesse Karwaski SUD @ NBY July 22, 2023

The North Bay Bulldogs reel off 28 points to beat Sudbury on Saturday night

The Bulldogs started slow but finished fast to end their Northern Football Conference regular season with a 5 and 1 record after beating the Sudbury Spartans 42-21.
Author of the article:Greg Estabrooks | North Bay Nugget
Published Jul 23, 2023

It was a little tougher than expected for the North Bay Bulldogs on Saturday night. The Sudbury Spartans may have been winless entering their game with the Bulldogs at Cundari Field, but they did arrive to compete.

Sudbury led the Bulldogs 21-14 late in the second quarter before the Bulldogs scored twice in the final three minutes to head to halftime with a 28-21 lead.

North Bay shut out the Spartans in the second half, scoring two more touchdowns, and cruising to a 42-21 win.

North Bay finishes the regular season with a 5-1 record. Ottawa handed the North Bay side its only regular-season loss after the Sooners rallied from a 21-0 deficit to stun the Bulldogs 35-33 on July 15.

Marc Mathon, the head coach and defensive coordinator, commented on his team’s ability to shut down the Spartans after a tough start.

“I think the guys just got caught a bit off guard,” said Mathon. “They were trying to corral (Sudbury’s offence) instead of attacking. We just changed it to a more attacking defence in the second half and that made a difference.”

Veteran defensive back Kory Benoit, who had one of three North Bay interceptions in the contest, talked about the change in approach.

“We just needed to buckle down and play our game of football,” he said. “Just do what the coaches asked us to do. We were a little concerned but knew if we did our jobs, we would prevail.”

The Bulldogs turned the ball over early in the game and that aided Sudbury, giving the Spartans a short field.

Quarterback Jordan Heather said a few things contributed to the sluggish start but it was good to see his teammates find their stride.

“We had a backup centre in the game, our normal centre has been away,” he said. “We had a snap go over my head, it happens. We also had a fumble in the first half. We had football plays that just didn’t go our way.

“They came to play, and you have to hand it to them for that,” said Heather. “It took us a little bit to wake up. Once our defence started to click, we held them scoreless in the second half and our offence was also able to do our thing.”

Heather threw a whopping six touchdown passes in the game as North Bay racked up 480 yards of total offence.

The Bulldogs quarterback had an animated talk with the team post-game and said the Bulldogs need to bear down, as the games are only going to get tougher.

“You got to be at practice; you got to commit,” said the Bulldogs pivot. “A new season is starting. We have a chance to do something good here. But we need to have a good week of practice to take it forward.”

Nick Laporte caught two more touchdown passes on five receptions for 136 yards.

Jacob Steringa scored twice himself, finishing the game with 125 yards receiving on eight catches.

Fisher Bilz caught his first touchdown pass of the season and rushed for a season-high 75 yards.

The Bulldogs host the Ottawa Sooners next Saturday back at Mike O’Shea Field, with the kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Original Article

Spartans forfeit NFC quarter-final, citing safety concerns

Tri-City gets bye to semifinal
Author of the article:Ben Leeson | Sudbury Star
Published Jul 25, 2023

A series of hard-fought, yet winless efforts by the short-staffed Sudbury Spartans will not be rewarded with a berth in the Northern Football Conference playoffs after all.

NFC officials announced on Monday night that Sudbury would forfeit its quarter-final game against the Tri-City Outlaws, scheduled for this coming Saturday, giving the latter a bye to the semis.

Exacerbated by injuries and work and school commitments, player numbers were a constant challenge for the men’s team during the regular season. Just 25 dressed for a 42-21 loss in North Bay this past Saturday, earning praise from head coach Junior Labrosse for a gutsy outing. Those same issues prompted this week’s forfeit, announced by the NFC in a Facebook post on Monday and acknowledged by Spartans brass the following day.

Reached again on Tuesday, Labrosse said the decision, while difficult, was a matter of player safety.

“For the North Bay game, we went down with 25 and injuries happen, then there’s work commitments,” Labrosse explained. “We also had three players getting ready to go to university camps. So you go from 25 and you’re down three more and in that game, we ended up getting four or five more injuries. I’m not going down to Tri-City with 18, 19 guys. It’s not that the guys didn’t want to go, but I have to take their safety into consideration.

“This is not like Joe Mac or Pop Warner, where kids can play every position, because there’s not much contact, there’s not much hitting. Anybody who has played this league knows it’s a physical league and when you’re asking guys to play triple duty — offence, defence and specials — in 40-degree heat and you ask them to hit every play or to be hit every play, it gets to a point where your body’s going to start shutting down and serious injuries can happen. These guys have got to put bread on the table.”

Sudbury’s entry in the NFC had hoped to build on a strong 2022 campaign, during which the locals posted a regular-season record of 5-1 and won their first playoff game in 28 years to reach semifinals. But the departures of starters from quarterback Adam Rocha, who signed in the Canadian Junior Football League, to lineman Kyle Henri, who has battled lingering injuries, combined with steady improvements by league rivals such as North Bay and the Sault, prevented the Spartans from converting their workmanlike performances into victories.

Sudbury still qualified for the playoffs, however, due to the Toronto Phantom Raiders’ decision to fold their tents in pre-season, combined with the Oakville Longhorns’ even poorer regular season — Oakville was outscored 341-6 in six games, compared to a 176-65 margin for Sudbury, and the Longhorns failed to record a single touchdown on offence — and the Spartans were expected to visit Tri-City, if enough players were available to safely field a team, in hope of scoring what would have been a dramatic upset.

“These guys are men, they’re not getting paid to play and I have to take into account that they have to go home, they have to go to work and pay their bills and if something serious happens, they’re off for two or three months because of the old let’s-get-it-done-for-the-pride thing,” Labrosse said. “Guys were ready to go down, but it was my decision, talking with management and stuff, that it was unsafe. I didn’t want to put these guys at risk. That’s the only reason. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to get blown out or whatever.”

Monday’s announcement means the Sudbury Junior Spartans, defending champions in the Ontario Summer Football League U16 AA loop, will be the only representative of the organization to move on in the post-season, having won a quarter-final this past weekend. Sudbury’s newly founded U18 team also saw its season come to an end, losing a first-round playoff matchup in Sarnia on Sunday.

“From the team we had last year that made semifinals, we lost 25 players from that roster, whether they retired or were unable to make the commitment to the team,” Labrosse said. “Some have gone to play ball in the States, Adam Rocha went out west. When you lose 25 guys off a roster, you’re going to take a hit.”

As expected, the introduction of a Junior Spartans U18 team also pared the roster of the men’s team, as some of the youngsters who dressed for Labrosse in 2022 chose to play with their peers this year, though he hopes they’ll return to the men’s crew after they graduate.

“My hats off to the guys who the guys who battled, who came out this year, who wanted to play ball and wanted to represent,” Labrosse said.

He criticized “armchair quarterbacks” who took shots at the team and its staff in response to the NFC’s Facebook post, before commenting was turned off, and who suggested the Spartans were afraid to face the Outlaws.

“If you think you know better, why don’t you come out and play?” Sudbury’s coach said. “You come out and play and our numbers are better, instead of yapping and thinking you have all the answers.”

Labrosse has already turned his mind to next season and is determined to surround his core of die-hards with talent and depth to rival the recent squads that have topped 50 players.

“I have already started,” he said. “Things have to change in the way the senior men’s team has approached recruiting players. I have already talked to some of our upper management over certain things that I want to work on, because with the U18 coming in, which is absolutely phenomenal, we did take a hit since played down at their age group. That being said, the guys who are graduating are going to benefit us immensely in years to come.

“The men’s organization is not there to hamper or try to take anything away from the U18 team. It’s our feeder system. I respect the coaches down there and I know they’re promoting their guys to come up after they’re graduated. I also need men, however, and there’s people in the city of Sudbury who probably don’t even know the team, whether they’re from down south or from outside of the country or whatever. I need fresh faces, so I have to approach it that way, too.”

Original Article

Steelers Close Out 2023 Regular Season with a Loss at Home to the All Stars

Author of the article:Jay Houslander | Sault Sports
Posted On: July 23, 2023

At Rocky DiPietro Field, the fifth place (3-2) Sault Steelers took to the field to host the 2022 NFC Football champions, the GTA All Stars in NFC action on Saturday, July 22nd under the lights to close out the 2023 NFC regular season.

At 12:35 of the opening quarter, GTA quarterback Esson Hamilton fires a 30 yard pass to Trevonte Ivey to run for a 16 yard carry to give the All Stars a 6 – 0 lead. Ovi Coca convert was blocked by the Steeler defensive line to keep the lead to 6 – 0. 21 seconds before the ten minute mark of the first quarter, Esson Hamilton runs for GTA second major of the game with a 21 yard carry to bring the lead to 12 – 0. With a two point conversion by the All Stars was unsuccesful. With 49.3 left in the first, George Baiden tackles Steeler Alonzo Clarke in the Sault endzone for a rouge to give the 2022 NFC champions a 13 – 0 lead. Esson Hamilton finds Kevin Walsh in the Steeler endzone with a 20 yard pass to increase GTA’s lead to 18 – 0. Baiden kicked the extra point on the convert to bring the lead to 19 – 0. At 7:43 of the final quarter, Steeler quarterback Ryan Yost evades three tackles to fire a 20 yard pass to Brady Smith on the Allstar six yard line to carry to Sault’s only points into the GTA endzone with a six yard run. Brady Smith adds the extra point with a Steeler convert in the Sault’s 19 – 6 loss in Sault Ste Marie.

The Steelers will head back into NFC action to open their 2023 postseason at Chinguacousy Park in Brampton, Ontario to face the GTA All Stars on Saturday, July 29th.

Original Article