Niagara Spears report June 3; JV wins; Varsity and bantams defeated
It’s hard to miss Zack Melnyk on the football field during games and practices.
“Zack Melnyk is a good player,” Niagara Spears Varsity head coach Brian Duguay said, following the Spears 27-24 loss to the visiting Burlington Stampeders Saturday night at Kiwanis Field; “He is a hard hitter and he has been with us for years. You can see the effort every time you watch him play. In practice, he brings it and he makes everyone better around him.”
There’s something else people will be quick to recognize while watching Melynk play linebacker for the Spears and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
“He plays with an edge at times and we just have to reel it back a little bit,” Duguay said.
The 18-year-old Welland native has a short answer when queried about his edgy style of play.
“Thank you,” he said, with a smile. ‘That’s just something I do. I love my team and I love the sport and if there’s someone there to ignite the spark, it ignites us all and we play better as a unit because of that.”
He admits he often walks a fine line when he plays that way.
“Today (Saturday), I crossed over that line once or twice, but that’s a learning curve for me,” he said, referring to a head butting penalty he received in the second half of the game versus Burlington.
Heading into Saturday’s game, Melynk was having another excellent season for the Spears and was tied for the team lead in tackles with 15.
“It’s his will and his heart,” Duguay said. “He believes in the game and the system and he likes the players around him. That’s what it’s all about.”
The six foot, 217-pounder is working hard on his game, both on and off the field.
“I am just looking to be a leader and hopefully I can lead this team to a championship. I want to be an extension of the coach and help out on the field,” he said “Our goal is to make the playoffs and ultimately win the championship.”
Melnyk has been with the Spears since Grade 9 and can think of no better place to spend his summer.
“You can tell that the coaches care about every single kid,” he said. “They ask for respect but they give you that same respect.”
Melnyk has had plenty of scholarship interest from Ontario universities but is planning to return for a Victory Lap at Notre Dame.
“We had a heart-breaking end to our season last year (loss in Catholic final) and I am just hoping that next year will be a different story.
“I am also looking to upgrade my marks and that sort of stuff,” he said. “I also need to get in the weight room, pick the coach’s brain and learn more about the game.”
Saturday’s loss was the latest chapter in an up and down season for the Spears.
“You can’t give up the opening kickoff for a touchdown and start building yourself a big hole,” Duguay said.
He feels his squad has tons of talent and should be better than 2-2 through four games.
“It’s belief,” he said. “They have to start believing in themselves. We are a young team and we need to start believing that when we step on the field we have to dial it in.
“We haven’t been able to be consistent.”
The team seems to alternate between good and bad games.
“We had a good game against Guelph and then against Essex we crapped the bed,” he said. “And then we played Queen’s (Kingston) and that was a dominant game for four quarters.
“Today in the second half, that was our team.”
Duguay would like to see more of that version of his team.
“We weren’t able to get rid of that funk. It’s hard because these are young men that need to understand that in everything they do, they have to step it up.”
STATS PACK
Stampeders 27 Spears 24
BPSN Niagara Players of the Game: Chase Bowden on offence and Zack Melnyk on defence
For the Niagara Spears: Ryan James, 4-7 passing for 123 yards, including 30-yard TD pass to Hunter Cropper and 48-yard TD pass to Darcy MacIssac; Chase Bowden, 104 yards rushing and a four-yard TD run; Cole MacKinnon, 17-yard field goal and three converts; Owen Jones, six solo and two assisted tackles; Melnyk, two solo and nine assisted tackles; and, Jarod Tessier, five solo tackles, one interception and a batted ball; and, Riley Lyons, interception.
For the Burlington Stampeders: 100-yard kick return major by Kadien Williams; quarterback Evan Hillock, TD passes to James Priestner (25 yards), Reid Matthew (70 yards) and Zachary Farray (25 yards); interceptions by Riley Macleod, Max Von Nieuwkoop and Josh Long.
Up next: The Spears are in Cambridge next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
JV SPEARS 36 STAMPEDERS 21
Marshall McCray threw three TD passes and had a two-yard TD run amongst 10 carries for 55 yards to power the Niagara Junior Varsity Spears football team to a 36-21 victory over the visiting Burlington Stampeders last Saturday night.
McCray finished 7-16 passing for 145 yards.
“The boys played a very physical team, lost a couple teammates to injury in the game and came away with the win,” Spears head coach Bill Crawford said. “The self-control our players have this season is just amazing and truly should be noticed as we have played some teams that like to tow the rules line.”
Other top performers for Niagara were: Dayshawn Johnson, 42- and 45-yard TD catches; Jacob Tessier, 18-yard TD catch and an interception; Tommy Leavens, two sacks; Elijah Pappin, sack; and, Tal Ibrahim, eight carries for 20 yards.
The Junior Varsity Spears are at Cambridge (1-2) Friday at 7:30 p.m.
SOONERS 60 BANTAM SPEARS 6
Nick Longo returned a kick 76 yards for a major, but it wasn’t enough as the Niagara Bantam Spears football team lost 60-6 to the Ottawa Sooners.
“Our team struggled this week with a short roster. Several players were absent due to injuries or school trips,” head coach Kent Wakem said. “As such, we had multiple players filling into secondary positions.”
Starting quarterback Jackson Stewart was injured early in the game, limiting Niagara’s offence, but backup quarterback Nick Jokic went into the game and helped keep the offense focused.
“Unfortunately, the Ottawa defence held firm limiting our drives. All in all I am happy with the way the team played and their tenacity right to the final whistle,” Wakem said. “We need to firm up defensively in order to be competitive at this level of football.
‘We have our work cut out for us and are expecting next week’s game vs Cambridge to be a good one.”
Niagara fell to 0-3 in OPFL action with the loss.
Top performers for Niagara were: Colton Kizlyk, two assisted tackles and an interception; Wyatt Brown, two solo tackles and one assisted tackle; Jack Wilson, two solo tackles and one assisted tackle; and, Ryan Broome, nine carries for 21 yards.
Niagara is at Cambridge Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
