Category: Team News

Last second loss drops Bulldogs from NFC’s unbeaten ranks

Special teams mistakes doomed the North Bay Bulldogs to their first loss of the season as they lost to the Ottawa Sooners 35-33 on the road Saturday night. Ottawa scored the game winning touchdown with two seconds left.
Author of the article:Greg Estabrooks | North Bay Nugget
Published Jul 17, 2023

The North Bay Bulldogs had a three-touchdown lead in Kanata on Saturday night but coughed it up, losing their first game of the season versus the Ottawa Sooners.

The Sooners scored a touchdown in the final seconds to stun North Bay 35-33. The Bulldogs are 4-1 on the year and Ottawa is 2-3.

North Bay lead 14-0 after one quarter. And 21-13 at halftime. The Bulldogs led 27-13 after three quarters but were outscored 22-6 in the fourth.

The loss spoiled another huge effort by the Bulldogs offence.

Jordan Heather put his hands a little tighter on the league Most Valuable Player award by completing 28 of 34 passed for 467 yards and five touchdowns.

Nick Laporte promised a big game and delivered one against the Sooners with 10 receptions for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Steringa had two receptions for scores, catching eight passes for 113 yards. Andre Landry had 88 yards receiving and added a score.

Special teams were a killer for the Bulldogs as they gave up two onside kicks to Ottawa. Coach Marc Mathon says those failures, and some other mistakes, really hurt.

“We allowed one of our converts to be blocked, we gave them shorts fields after the onside kick recoveries,” says Mathon, who adds the Bulldogs needed more possessions in the second half, as they only had the ball three times.

“One more drive for us would have sewn up the win, just on time alone,” says Mathon.

Mathon was referring to the fact that Ottawa scored the go-ahead touchdown with only two seconds left in the game.

Heather said special teams need to be worked on this week with the playoffs approaching.

“It all comes down to giving special teams the time it deserves. Special teams are one-third of the game, and we need to treat it that way moving forward,” says Heather.

“Our offence played really well but we need to be able to extend our own drives. Late in games we need to manage the clock a bit better and score when time is more in our favour,” says the Bulldogs quarterback.

No matter how the Bulldogs do next week in their season finale against Sudbury, North Bay will host a playoff game the week after (July 29) and Mathon says it could be Ottawa coming to town.

The Sudbury game still has meaning for North Bay as the Bulldogs are trying to get as high a seed as possible for the league semifinals and finals if they advance that far.

The Bulldogs host winless Sudbury next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cundari Field.

Original Article

Spartans not hanging heads despite loss to Tri-City

Author of the article:Ben Leeson | The Sudbury Star
Published Jul 15, 2023

Neither a lopsided loss, nor a disappointing season has swayed Sudbury Spartans veteran Nicolson Christmas from strapping on pads each week.

“I have been playing football since I was 14,” said the defensive back turned running back, moments after a loss to the Tri-City Outlaws at James Jerome Sports Complex on Saturday night. “My teammates are like my second family and I don’t want to give that up. I enjoy it too much, so I just keep coming out.”

No surprise, then, that he found bright spots even in a 37-7 defeat against Tri-City, one of the top teams in the Northern Football Conference, which dropped the locals to 0-5 on the season. Despite fielding one of their smallest rosters this year, with only 28 men listed on the official scorer’s sheet, the Spartans managed to impress Christmas with their effort.

“Yes, absolutely,” he told The Sudbury Star, moments after the final horn on Saturday. “I trust all these guys and it’s great to play with the guys who want to be here.”

Sudbury did find the end zone first, after giving up a rouge on the opening kickoff, and Christmas capped an impressive march down the field with a three-yard TD in the first quarter.

A standout on defence for several seasons, Christmas has embraced a new role and a new position as a ball-carrier, while showing his versatility as an athlete. He netted 19 yards on the ground on Saturday, as well as eight receiving, for a Sudbury squad that frequently found itself under heavy pressure from the Outlaws’ defensive unit.

“It has been difficult — very difficult,” he said with a laugh. “I haven’t played this position in 10 years, so it’s just learning old things over again and coming in with a different mind set, but it has been fun.”

Tri-City answered with its own impressive drive and, despite an admirable goal-line stand by the Sudbury defence, punched in a short TD of its own on a carry by Brandon Metz.

Another drive by the visitors came up short of the end zone, thanks to an interception by Spartans DB Andrew St. Amour, but the hosts were forced to concede a safety just before halftime, making it 17-7 at the break.

Outlaws receiver Anthony Powless got the scoring started in the second half with a 33-yard catch. Sudbury tried to answer as quarterback Nick Rideout found the likes of Tyler Bell and Brandon Salem with passes in the third quarter, while also scrambling well for a couple of gains, only to come up short of a scoring play. Tri-City’s interception early in the fourth led to a TD catch by Connor Depodesta, this time for 38 yards, before quarterback Spencer Bollman found some space to rush in for a 19-yard major.

Richmond Nketiah’s 10-yard catch rounded out the scoring.

Despite being undermanned and clearly fatigued, the Spartans showed a glimmer or two late in the contest. Andrew Rocha entered the game at quarterback, allowing Rideout to move to receiver, and made an impressive 10-yard rush of his own. Christmas also posted his biggest gain on the ground in the final frame, for 12 yards.

“It is tough, but you do the best that you can with what you have,” said Christmas, when asked about playing with such a short bench. “That’s all the coaches expect from us and that’s what we expect from ourselves.”

Despite their winless record, the Spartans remain alive in the NFC playoff hunt and can even rise in the standings this coming Saturday with a win over the much-improved North Bay Bulldogs, in what will serve as Sudbury’s regular-season finale.

Kickoff in the Gateway City is set for 7 p.m.

“Everyone needs to show up and have a positive mind set,” Christmas said. “If we do that and we play like we did today, I think we have a good shot.”

Original Article

Bulldogs looking forward to sinking their teeth into another win

The North Bay Bulldogs are in Ottawa on Saturday night trying to win their 5th game in a row in Northern Football Conference action. North Bay enters the game at 4-0 while the Sooners have one win in four games.

Author of the article:Greg Estabrooks | North Bay Nugget
Published Jul 14, 2023

The North Bay Bulldogs express chugs into the nation’s capital this weekend trying to stay unbeaten.

The Bulldogs face the Ottawa Sooners for the second time this season. North Bay beat the Sooner 30-20 in the season opening at Mike O’Shea Field back on June 3rd.

The Bulldogs are the Northern Football Conferences’ only undefeated team, this after winning but one game in the last five years.

North Bay’s quarterback and a great receiving corps has a lot to do with that.

Jordan Heather leads the league in passing and North Bay had Nick Laporte in the lineup last week for the first time all season. Laporte caught two touchdown passes and went over 100 yards receiving.

The big receiver was not on the field practicing Thursday night at the Omischl Complex but will be playing Saturday in Ottawa.

“It (the lower body injury) is good enough to play with, but I am just taking week by week until I am back to 100 percent to prevent further injuries,” says Laporte.

Despite playing just that single game Laporte and Heather have established a lot of chemistry.

“It’s great playing with him. We worked together during the offseason in the winter. You can tell right away that he is a student of the game, takes it very seriously and has a great arm,” remarked Laporte who promises big things from himself and Heather on Saturday night.

As for the quarterback he gets to face a team the Bulldogs have actual tape on, of course that works both ways.

“It was five or six weeks ago (playing Ottawa) so it does help with game planning, but we still have to be ready for whatever they plan on throwing at us,” says Heather.

The Bulldogs quarterback is glad to have Laporte back on the field saying it makes a good group of receivers even better.

“We have a lot of guys making plays and having Nick just adds another dimension to offence with a guy who can stretch the field,” remarked Heather.

Jesse Shoults is a different kind of weapon for North Bay as he has made an impact on defence and is used for some tough inside run plays.

Shoults doesn’t care if the big plays come on offence or defence, as long as they happen.

“They ( plays on offence and defence) are both filled with adrenaline,” says the burly player.

“My goal when I am on the field is to boost the morale on the team and get everyone pumped up. Sometimes I get a little carried away, but it is what it is,” says Shoults.

Shoults offers this on why the Bulldogs are employing him on both sides of the ball.

“My physicality, I like to hit, and I try and make plays for the team and always try to flip the narrative,” says Shoults. “We are not the same old Bulldogs; we are here to make an impact on the league,” says Shoults.

So far so good on that count as North Bay is 4-0.

The Bulldogs are the Northern Football Conference’s only unbeaten team. Coach Marc Mathon says a win this weekend clinches home field through at least the semi-final.

Mathon is happy to have game tape on the Sooners from Week One.

“Anytime we play Ottawa or any of the southern (Ontario) teams it is always a key factor when playing them a second time,” says Mathon. “They are certainly going to change some things and we are preparing for them to change things in the offence that we know they have. It is not going to be an easy game,” remarked Mathon.

The 4-0 Bulldogs meet the 1-3 Sooners at Minto Field in Ottawa at 7 pm on Saturday.

Original Article

The North Bay Bulldogs light up the Sault Steelers 28-14N

The North Bay Bulldogs overcame the rain and the Sault Steelers to win 28-14 on Saturday night and move to 4-0 on the season.
Author of the article:Greg Estabrooks : North Bay Nugget
Published Jul 10, 2023

The North Bay Bulldogs men’s team are now the only unbeaten team in the Northern Football Conference after a 28-14 win over the Sault Steelers on Saturday night.

The game was played at Saint Joseph Scollard Hall’s Cundari Field instead of Mike O’Shea Field at the Omischl Complex. The Bulldogs say they were told their usual field would be unavailable on Saturday due to a soccer tournament.

The rain arrived shortly before the 7 pm start time and that played into the Sault’s favour as they have a great running attack while the Bulldogs are a pass-heavy team.

Despite the rain North Bay scored through the air twice in the first half as Jordan Heather hooked up with Nick Laporte for two scores. Laporte made an enormous impact in this first game of the season with over 100 yards receiving.

North Bay went up by three touchdowns when Heather ran one into the end zone late in the second quarter.

The Sault finally got going late in the first half when a long completion got them deep in North Bay territory.

Quarterback Ryan Yost tossed a short touchdown pass to Taylor Holub on the last play of the first half to make it 21-7 North Bay at the break.

Jess Shoults rushed for a touchdown to make it 28-7 for the Bulldogs in the third quarter. Shoults also added an interception for North Bay having a huge game on both sides of the ball.

A late fumble gave the Steelers possession deep in North Bay territory. Alonzo Clarke, who had over 200 years rushing for the Steelers, took it into the end zone to make it 28-14.

Then things got a little weird. The field lights were scheduled to be shut off at 9:30 Saturday night. The problem was the game was not over as 1:16 was left. 20 minutes later the lights were turned back on, and the game finished with the score 28-14.

North Bay racked up 372 yards of total offence and had more than 100 rushing yards.

Mathon was especially pleased with the North Bay ground game.

“That was the first time this season we broke 100 yards rushing which is an improvement for us. This is especially important as it came against a Sault defence that is tough against the run,” remarked Mathon.

The Steelers’ passing game was not good, except for that one series in the last moments of the second quarter. Yost had just five completions in 20 attempts.

Casey Platinum had a big game on defence. The defensive tackle had a quarterback sack, a forced fumble, and one tackle for a loss. Mike Van Damme and Miguel Allard each had two sacks.

Next up is a trip to Ottawa to take on the Sooners. Ottawa narrowly lost to the NFC’s defending champions by a score of 15 – 8 on Saturday in Toronto.

The Dogs played their opener versus Ottawa and had to come from behind to defeat the Sooners 30-20 in North Bay on June 3rd.

Original Article

Bulldogs hand Sault Steelers a loss on the road in North Bay

Author of the article:Jay Houslander | SaultSports.Com
Published July 9, 2023

After a 14 – 6 win in Sault Ste Marie on Saturday, June 24th over the Hamilton Jaguars and following a bye week over the Canada Day weekend, the Sault Steelers headed east to face the North Bay Bulldogs on Saturday, July 8th at St Joseph-Scollard Hall field in North Bay in NFC Football action.

North Bay’s Nick Laporte gives the Bulldogs a 6 – 0 lead at 4:07 of the opening quarter. Jacob Steringa adds to the lead for North Bay with finding the uprights for the convert to give the hosts a 7 – 0 lead. Laporte adds to the Bulldogs lead with his second major of the game at 4:32 of the second quarter with Steringa kicking his second convert of the contest to bring North Bay’s lead to 14 – 0. With only 62 seconds remaining in the half with North Bay’s third touchdown of the game Jordan Heather increases the lead to 21 – 0 lead with Steringa notching a third successful convert. With the the buzzer sounding at 0:00 and on the final play of the half, Steeler quarterback Ryan Yost finds Taylor Holub for a 12 yard pass to send the Sault into the half down by only 14 after a Brady Smith convert. At 8:56 of the third, Jesse Shoults gives the Bulldogs a 27 – 7 lead with Steringa adding the convert to bring North Bay’s lead to 28 – 7. With 2:52 left in Saturday’s contest in North Bay, Alonzo Clarke rushes for a Steeler touchdown along with Smith adding the extra point on the convert to give the Bulldogs a 28 – 14 win over the Sault.

Next up for the Steelers will be their final regular season game of the season when the GTA Allstars come into Sault Ste Marie for a Saturday, July 22nd matchup in a 7:30 p.m kickoff at Rocky DiPietro Field.

Original Article