Photo by Kate Adams. The North Bay Bulldogs have sent a message to the rest of the NFC. The Bulldogs knocked off the first place Toronto Raiders 17-14 Saturday night, and showed a lot of toughness and grit in the process.
The North Bay Bulldogs have sent a message to the rest of the NFC. The Bulldogs knocked off the first place Toronto Raiders 17-14 Saturday night, and showed a lot of toughness and grit in the process. It was a highly emotional contest, filled with playoff type emotions and atmosphere.
The first quarter of play did not produce any scoring, but it did not take long afterwards for the Raiders to get on the board. Earlier in the week Bulldogs head coach Marc Mathon had singled out three Raiders whom he considered game breakers, one of them being Ricky Clarke. Well Clarke definitely proved Mathon right by opening the scoring with a 111 yd return off of a missed field goal to put the Raiders up 7-0. After the game Mathon did admit that in hindsight the Bulldogs should have punted.
“You know we wanted to get points on the board, but we were winning the field position game at the time. In hindsight I really wish we had punted the ball. Ricky (Thompson) thought the FG was good, but with a playmaker like Clarke back there we shouldn’t have taken that chance. Lesson Learned,” said Mathon.
North Bay was forced to punt the ball on their next possession, and once again the Raiders were able to capitalize with the ball in their hands. Raiders quarterback Crispin Warner hit his running back Steve Lubin, another one of the Raiders Mathon had singled out, for a 22 yard gain and an additional 15 yards was tacked on due to a face masking penalty by the Bulldogs. Two plays later the third member of Mathons’ trio got into the action; Andy Taylor made a 30 yard touchdown reception to put the Raiders up 14-0.
At this point it would have been easy for the Bulldogs to pack it in, but instead the comeback was just beginning. After Bulldogs quarterback Jason Ferreira was intercepted by Christian Brooks on the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs defence took over. Chris Bowes, the games defensive MVP, made his third interception of the season returning it all the way to the Toronto 53. Ferreira then connected with receiver Matt Gordon three times for 31 yards, and Ricky Thompson kicked a 21 yard field goal to end the half and make the score 14-3.
The second half was all Bulldogs as they completed their comeback. Although their first possession of the half did not result in a score, they were able to send a message to the leagues top defence by putting together a 15 play drive which set the tone for the half. The drive ate up most of the third quarter and neither team was able to change the score heading into the fourth.
However the first play of the fourth quarter was a punt by the Raiders and Matt Gordon was ready to make statement. Gordon fielded the punt and returned it 42 yards for a score, and the Bulldogs were now within four as the score was 14-10. On the Raiders next possession the Bulldogs defence came up big again. With the Raiders driving, Bulldogs cornerback Russ Burns picked off a Warner pass and returned it all the way to the Raiders 39 yard line.
The Bulldogs were able to complete their comeback on their possession. Ferreira hit receiver Dave Wilson three times for 24 yards on the drive, and Wilson then ran the ball in from the one yard line to give the Bulldogs the lead they never relinquished 17-14.
Wilson was the games offensive MVP with the rushing touchdown and also 10 receptions for 117 yards.
The end of the game was marred by the actions of the Toronto Raiders sideline. On multiple occasions their coaches were making their way onto the field to make threats toward Bulldogs players. It looked as though the teams would come to blows near the end of the game; however the officials were able to get both teams their respective sidelines before anything happened. When all was said and done, Mathon did not even acknowledge the shenanigans at the end of the game and just wanted to praise his team.
“I’m just so proud of these guys,” said Mathon regarding his teams play.
“You know there were some mistakes out there, but no one blamed one another. We just stayed together and stuck to the game plan. I can’t even single out one player who stood out, because every one that stepped on the field today made a play tonight.”
Mathon felt that the game changed in the second half when the Raiders upped their aggression. Earlier in the week Mathon said the team planned to use their aggression against them but the Raiders were somewhat conservative in the first half. However at the end of the day the Bulldogs came away the winner and that is what is most important to the coach.
“It’s huge to be 3-2,” said Mathon unable to contain his smile.
“I told you yesterday that every game is the most important of the year, and that is exactly what this one was. We just beat the first place team; we have sent a message to the rest of the league. They kind of surprised us in the first half with their lack of aggression, but they came out the way we expected them to in the second half and that is when the game changed in our favour. Now we have to practice hard and get ready for Tri City. They have a weapon in Ian Forde who used to play in the CFL so we need to be ready for him like we were ready for the Raiders big three.”
The Tri City Outlaws will face the Bulldogs next Saturday July 14th at Rollie Fischer field. Kickoff for the game is 7 pm, and it will also be Alumni Night. All former North Bay players are asked to come out and attend.
