JV Spears win championship; Team awards presented
The Niagara Spears junior varsity football team won a defensive battle 13-0 over the Kingston Grenadiers to capture the Ontario Summer Football League’s K.J. Kenemy Memorial Provincial Cup.
“It was pretty awesome,” head coach Brad Martin said. “Our defence was amazing. They held them back and turned them over on downs numerous times. They stopped punting to us after a while because our punt returner was doing really well.”
Niagara opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 75-yard punt return from Aidan VanMill and then took a 13-0 lead into the half following an 25-yard touchdown run by Austin MacRae.
VanMill returned another punt 25 yards and was one tackle away from another major which made Kingston reconsider the punting game.
“They stopped punting and the defence shut the door time and time again,” Martin said.
The Spears defence came up big in the first half stopping Kingston from scoring on three chances from inside Niagara’s five-yard line.
“The last play they ran a tailback swing and our guy picked it up and they overthrew the ball,” Niagara defensive coordinator Tim Bisci said.
The second half started off with Kingston kicking the ball into Niagara’s end zone and the Spears took possession of the ball on the one-yard line.
“We didn’t go very far. It was third and four and they went offside and our offence got the ball back and marched down to their 35 before stalling out,” he said. “It was a pretty long drive and it was a big part of the game because they ate up most of the third quarter doing it,” Bisci said. “It was a pivotal part of the game.
“We did stuff well on all three sides of the ball and we made some plays. It turned out for us.”
Niagara’s defence was solid all season, especially in the playoffs where it didn’t allow a single offensive major.
“The kids learned some stuff that they had never done before and they picked up on it. They bought in and we made plays when we had to, especially in this game. The kids were making plays all over the place,” Bisci said.
All parts of the defence shone.
“We had eight kids rotate in on defensive line and they played extremely well. We had five linebackers rotate through and again they made plays.”
Against Kingston, the Spears recorded a pair of interceptions.
“They made plays when they had to. We had some knockdowns and we broke up plays. At times, we gave up some big passes but we always made a play right after it,” Bisci said.
He expects half the players back for next season.
“We should have a bunch of kids back so we are looking forward to next year.”
At the Niagara Spears annual banquet, awards were handed out to the top players on the organizations three squads.
The junior varsity (under-16) award winners were: Joseph Martinelli, Zack Duguay Award; Aidan VanMill, most improved; Lucas Landry, defensive MVP; Joey Moore, top lineman; and, Austin MacRae, offensive MVP.
The varsity (under-18) award winners were: Quinn Johnston, Zack Duguay Award; Jacob Ranger, most improved; Raydon Gouthro-Selman, defensive MVP; Ryan Broome, top lineman; and, Justin Savoie, offensive MVP.
The bantam (under-14) award winners were: Lucas Nicol, Zack Duguay Award; William Taylor, most improved; Hudson Grant, defensive MVP; Raphael Robinson, top lineman; and, Josh Gauslin, offensive MVP.
