July 30 Niagara Spears and minor football report
Niagara Spears Tier 2 Junior Varsity football quarterback Bryce Livingston threw a 40-yard TD pass to Josh Boyle in a 14-12 victory over Clarington Saturday in the Ontario Provincial Football League semifinals.
The Niagara Spears Tier 2 Junior Varsity football team advanced to the Ontario Provincial Football League finals Saturday with a 14-12 road victory over the Clarington Knights.
Scoring for Niagara were Josh Boyle on a 40-yard pass from Bryce Livingston and Team Ontario member Tal Ibrahim on a 10-yard run.
Second-place Clarington finished the regular season at 7-1 while Niagara was third with a 4-3 record.
“It was a back and forth game,” Niagara head coach Gerry DiSanto said.
Niagara led 7-6 at the half in the game that featured a one-hour rain delay. The Spears grabbed a 14-6 lead at the end of the third quarter and that held up until Clarington scored with a minute left in the game. After a failed two-point convert and on-side kick, the Spears took over with 30 seconds left in the game. With both teams out of timeouts, Niagara took three knees to end the game. On the final knee, a melee broke out.
“They rushed our players and there was a little bit of a brawl,” DiSanto said. “We got everyone to the bench and everyone was fine. We just stood tall.”
Niagara will not be facing any suspensions as a result of the altercation.
The Spears will play unbeaten Vaughan Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
“We have to play our game and not let them take over the game,” DiSanto said. “We have to play conservative, time management football.”
DiSanto believes his team has a chance to knock off Vaughan.
“The last time we played them we had a smaller number of players and it was a really hot day so most of our kids were dehydrated and what not.”
The Spears ended up losing the game 29-0.
“Vaughan has blown out people by 63-0 and 59-0. It looks like there is not even another team on the field, but we are the only team that keep them to a full game,” DiSanto said.
DiSanto always had confidence is his squad to make the finals.
“I always thought we could, but it was just up to the kids to do it,” he said. “Our quote this week is ‘We are 27 strong and Tier 2 proud.’ ”
Following are Niagara Regional minor football results:
JUNIOR VARSITY ELITE DIVISION
Semifinal Playoff Game
Tiger-Cats 41 Gamblers 0
Tiger-Cats: Aidan McKinney, two TDs and two-point convert; Nicolas Tilk, two TDs and convert; Mathew Huggins, TD and two-point convert; Justin Dawe, TD; outstanding effort on offence by linemen Zack Dakin and Josh Keizer.
Gamblers: No scoring. Outstanding effort by Tanner Pirson, Shawn Webb, Owen Twose and Jake Diellonia.
The Tiger-Cats advance to play the Sun Devils Thursday for JV Elite Championship.
ATOM DIVISION
Longhorns 35 Lions 26
Fort Erie Longhorns: Gavin Vasques, TD; Chase Wentworth, two TDs; Jordyn Payne, TD and two converts; Calm Smith, TD and three-point convert.
Niagara Falls Lions: Lucas Panucci, two TDs and convert; Marco Angelini, TD and convert; Blake McKinnon, TD.
Steelers 15 Seahawks 6
West Niagara Steelers: Matthew McDevitt, TD and three-point convert; Adam Skeldon, TD; outstanding effort on offence by Austin Graham and on defence by Kian McKenna.
St Catharines Seahawks:: Dahari Williams, TD.
PEEWEE DIVISION
Steelers 38 Tiger-Cats 6
West Niagara Steelers: Josh Young, TD; Jayden Gurzi-MacDonald, TD; Jacob Brighton, TD; Lucas Hazelton, TD; Jake Portolesi, TD; Elijah, two-point convert.
Welland Tiger-Cats: Marcus Tsung, TD; Thomas Alexander, two-point convert.
The game was forfeited by Welland at half-time.
Longhorns 50 Argos 6
Fort Erie Longhorns: Max Heron, four TDs; Andre Hoffman, two TDs; Kaiden Hicken, TD and four two-point converts.
Niagara Falls Argos: Julian Mangiacusate, TD.
BANTAM DIVISION
Falcons 15 Tiger-Cats 6
West Niagara Falcons: Ethan Rutherford, TD; Eljay Thompson, kickoff return for TD; Nick Park, convert and a single; Nolan Banga, 10 tackles, two fumble recoveries; Evan Reece, 10 tackles, sack and interception; outstanding effort on offence by Dawon Fortier and Aiden Pielechaty and on defence by Nolan Banga and Evan Reece.
Welland Tiger-Cats: Brian Mauvais, TD
Argos 41 Longhorns 34
Niagara Falls Argos: Micheal Symmons, four TDs and convert; Conor Mckee, TD; Arden Martinez, TD; Eli Pierobon, two-point covert; safety by defence.
Fort Erie Longhorns: Jackson Louws, two TDs; Kaiden Craft, two TDs; Steven Phillips, TD; Kody Macrea, two two-point converts.
