Generals take two of three from Bisons
The Niagara Generals travel football program got off to a great start in Ontario Fall Football League action last weekend with victories by two of three teams.
BANTAMS 48 BISONS 14
The defending provincial champion bantam Generals football team was strong in all three phases of the game and opened the season with a 48-14 romp over the Brantford Bisons at Kiwanis Field.
Offensively, the Generals were unstoppable with more than 450 total yards. Running Mark Hazzouri, quarterback Rudy Sommerville and wide receiver Lox Raducanu led the way with majors for Niagara. Star of the game Luis Corredor-Reyes added a pair on the ground as well. Sommerville, Corredor-Reyes and Ronan Weins each scored a convert.
Defensively, the Generals were stout all game long and forced the Bisons to punt numerous times. Their two scores were very late into the fourth quarter. Isaiah Benjamin recovered a fumble to the house and the defence also got an interception
On special teams, Corredor-Reyes ran back a punt 105 yards for a TD.
Next up for the team is a trip to Brampton to face the Peel Panthers.
BISONS 14 PEEWEE GENERALS 8
The Niagara Generals peewee squad started the season with a 14-8 home field loss to the Brantford Bisons.
The first half of the game went back and forth with both teams playing strong defensively until the Bisons scored in the second quarter to lead 6-0 lead at the half.
Niagara grabbed a 8-6 lead early in the fourth quarter on a major by Luke Bertrand but Brantford ended up scoring the winning major as the result of a number of missed tackles.
“Today we failed in a lot of aspects of the game; missed tackles, poor play execution and some missed blocking opportunities. We lost the game today because we didn’t execute fundamental football. Missed and incomplete tackles allowed the other team to score on us twice and we need to clean that up,” head coach Andrew Lewis said.
He feels the score was a clear indication to the coaches that they need to get back to work and continue working on the fundamentals with the squad.
“We know our guys are capable of much more than what we displayed today and we intend to get our players to their full potential. We did execute certain things well and we will focus on continuing to work on those aspects of the game that will put us in a position to play winning football. We will get back to work this week and prepare to take on Peel.”
ATOM GENERALS 54 BISONS 0
Multiple touchdowns by Eli McLean, Carter Bacon and Hudson Redman powered the Niagara Generals atom football team to a 54-0 victory over the Brantford Bisons.
Jake Lindqvist recorded the conversions and Martin Gimpelj had a strong game blocking on the offensive line.
“The team really came together this week and made sure to let everyone know they are here to play. The communication on the field was something to be very proud of. If this is how they are going to play every game I believe we have a good chance of a winning season,” coach Matt Bacon said.
The defence had an excellent game led by Matthias Aparicio.
“I was very impressed with their performance today. The whole defence came out to play,” he said. “We can’t wait to see how our Generals do next week in their game against the Peel Panthers.”
