Two Spears teams advance to B finals
Two of three Niagara Spears football teams will be competing for the Ontario Summer Football League’s K.J. Keremy Memorial Cup.
The varsity (under-18) Spears defeated the Ottawa Myers Riders 27-19 last Saturday at the Nepean Sportsplex to advance to the championship game Saturday at the University of Waterloo’s Warrior Field against the Burlington Stampeders. The bantam (under-14) Spears knocked off Oakville 40-36 to move on to the championship game at Warrior Field Saturday against the Scarborough Thunder. The junior varsity (under-16) Spears were knocked out of the playoffs following a 31-19 loss to the Oshawa Hawkeyes.
VARSITY SPEARS
The varsity Spears built a 20-7 halftime lead over the Myers Riders and hung on for a 27-19 victory.
In the first half, Matt Murray connected on TD passes with Angel Diaz (35 and 40 yards) and Joe Martinelli (35 yards) with converts being booted by Ethan Hampshire.
“We played a solid first half but we still dropped some nice passes from Matt. We need to ensure to make those catches before we start to run,” Spears head coach Brian Duguay said. “The defence played a solid first half. It’s nice to see the offence and defence complement each other.”
Niagara went up 27-7 in the second half when Murray connected with Max Annunziata on a three-yard pass and Hampshire added the extra point.
The Spears conceded a safety and the Riders scored with less than a minute left in the game and added a two-point convert to cut the lead to 27-16. Niagara recovered an onside kick but ended up surrendering another safety with three seconds left on the clock. Following a pair of time count violations that moved the ball back to the Riders’ 15-yard line, the game ended on an incomplete pass.
“It was nice that the defence was on the field to close this out because they have been strong all year. We played a strong game but started to get caught up in the chippy play that cost us some penalties,” he said. “I’m really proud of these players and coaches.”
Niagara has not always had success on eastern road trips.
“We’ve become familiar with the drive. In the last three years, we have traveled to Cornwall, Ottawa and now Ottawa again. It takes a toll on the players,” Duguay said.
Murray finished the day 13-34 passing for 222 yards and four touchdowns, and Justin Savoie added 30 yards on the ground.
Leading the way on defence for Niagara were: Wyatt Brown with four solo tackles and six assisted tackles; Nick Jubenville with three solo and six assisted tackles, a solo sack and a fumble recovery; and, Savoie with two solo and three assisted tackles.
JV SPEARS
The JV Spears couldn’t overcome a slow start and ended up losing their semifinal game to Oshawa.
“We had a better second half, we put up some scores and we were closing it out a bit. We just failed to execute on a play and time kind of ran out,” Niagara head coach Brad Martin said. “We had some good performances.”
Jacob Iannizzi tossed a nine-yard TD pass to Lukas Goodbrand and Brody Payne grabbed a 50-yard scoring strike from Iannizzi. Seth Bisci closed out the scoring for Niagara with a two-yard TD run.
Leading the way on defence was Nathan Vander Meer.
“He has been fantastic this season. He is a really good ballplayer and he has had a solid season playing linebacker,” he said. “I believe he is a kid to watch in the future.”
Martin felt his young team got better towards the end of the season.
“We failed to execute at the wrong times in a lot of the games and that was a sign of immaturity on the team. But they played hard and we will be back next year.”
BANTAM SPEARS
The bantam Spears moved on to the championship game by topping Oakville 40-36.
“I’m very proud of how the team played with four solid quarters of football and never giving up even when Oakville started to push back,” Niagara head coach Troy Herbert said. “It was a hard-fought game by both teams and they need to be congratulated on their efforts. They both left it all on the field.”
Leading the offence for the Spears were: Spencer McRae who had 302 yards of offence and three TD runs, including ones from 66 and 94 yards out; Angelo Chukwu with 83 rushing yards, two majors, including a 50-yard run, and a two-point convert; Asar McIntrye-Christie with a 62-yard TD; and, Braiden McLean with a two-point convert.
Sparking Niagara’s defence were: Tristan Herbert with four solo tackles and 12 assisted tackles; McRae with three solo tackles and nine assisted tackles; Tamas Hunter with two solo tackles and 12 assisted tackles; Channing Gearing with three solo tackles and seven assisted tackles; and, Austin Graham with two solo tackles and seven assisted tackles.
“The team took the weekend to enjoy the win and we will be working hard at practice this week preparing for the Kenny Cup championship game,” Herbert said.
