Generals take two of three
The Niagara Generals peewee football team defeated the Chatham-Kent Cougars 44-0. Photo by Ashley Macrae.
The Niagara Generals bantam (under-14) football team dropped a 27-14 decision to the visiting Forest City Thunderbirds last Saturday in Ontario Summer Football League action.
Aiden VanMil had a defensive TD for Niagara and Gavin Vasquez added one on offence. Mateo Ayala booted a pair of converts.
“With a week of graduations and end-of-year trips, practices were not what we had hoped, but ultimately we have a great group of athletes and with some adjustments I have all the faith in the world we will bounce back from this loss better than ever,” Niagara head coach Bruce Macrae said.
Next up for the Generals is a Sunday road game against the Chatham Kent Cougars.
PEEWEE GENERALS
The Niagara Generals peewee (under-12) football squad blanked the visiting Chatham-Kent 44-0 led by four touchdowns from Luis Corredor-Reyes.
“Our priority at this point is keeping our players as healthy as possible as we progress into the playoffs,” Niagara head coach Kent Wakem said. “We have been plagued with injuries the last two games and it has been costing us during our offensive drives. Our defence was able to compensate for this past game but it likely won’t be enough moving forward.”
Lox Raducanu and Isaiah Benjamin contributed single majors for Niagara, Mark Hazzouri added a pair of two-point converts and Jackson Mills had a single-point convert. Defensively, the Generals had a fantastic game with multiple tackles for losses and four sacks. Henley Shore recorded an interception and Spencer MacRae recorded a blocked pass.
“Over the past six games, we have been able to develop some depth and a next-player-in mentality has really struck a chord with the team,” Wakem said. “We look forward to the last regular season game next week at home against the Sarnia Sturgeons. By all accounts, they have a strong offence which will be a great test for our players.”
ATOM GENERALS
The Niagara Generals atom (under-10) football team defeated the London Junior Mustangs 29-14 to record its first win of the season.
“This was a game where each player executed on almost every snap. I was very impressed with the improvements today,” Niagara head coach Andrew Lewis said. “The hard work is starting to pay off for our guys.”
The offence was led by Jake Brewster who had four majors on the day and many rushing yards. Key offensive contributions were also provided by Bentley Fergusson, Karson Stevens and Jackson Lewis.
“The offensive guys owe a lot of credit for their success on the ground to the O line for exceptional blocking. The blockers opened up some big gaps and our guys took advantage,” Lewis said. “On the defensive side of the ball, I couldn’t ask for a better game. The guys completely shut down the Mustangs’ offence.”
Top defenders were Karson Stevens, Leo Phillips and Luc Vachon, who pressured the Mustangs quarterback all day long.
“Our guys were able to force fumbles, one recovered by Graham Judd which led to our guys scoring on that drive. We executed on almost every tackle and did not give up many first downs,” Lewis said. “The defence got burned on a couple of reverse plays, which lead to the Mustangs’ scoring but aside from those two plays the defence shut it down.
“We are looking forward to carrying the momentum into our next game where we take on Brantford on our home turf.”
