Bulldogs drop season opener to Maddogs (updated)

The North Bay Bulldogs defence was solid but their young offence struggled as they were defeated 13-2 by the Toronto Maddogs in the season opener for both teams Saturday in Toronto.

Toronto Maddogs quarterback Chris Foster ran for a touchdown and threw for another. Both of the Maddogs scores came after Bulldogs turnovers.

Matt Gordon got the start at quarterback for the Bulldogs. Gordon gained the most yards on the ground with 26 yards while completing 6 passes for 88 yards. Andre Landry caught a couple of passes for 37 yards. The offense generated a total of 8 first downs but weren’t able to reach the 150 yard mark. but threw a pair of interceptions.

“The talent is there, we simply need to develop it and if their spirits stay positive, we’ll get there”, said QB Matt Gordon of his group on offense.

Offensive Coordinator Ryan McGowan was not able to make the game as he became a father on Friday to healthy baby girl named Brooklyn. Congratulation to Ryan and family. “Not having Ryan at the game certainly had an effect on how the game unfolded, but I’m extremely proud of how the players rallied together and took on the veteran laden Toronto Maddogs,” said Co-Head Coach John Smales.

Where the Dogs offense was mostly new young players discovering NFC Football for the very first time, the Toronto Maddogs defense only had 1 players with less than 3 years NFC experience.

The game marked one of the most disciplined games in recent history for the Bulldogs as they only attracted 4 penalties for 35 yards in the game.

Defensively the Bulldogs may still be young, but it features only 2 first year players in the starting lineup with one of them being an Acadia Axemen veteran defensive back. The defense also features six 2nd year starters with 4 veterans of more than 3 years NFC Football experience.

“We saw that our youth also was accompanied by lack of size on our defensive line, but we have speed. So we developed a defensive set and approach that turns the D-Line’s light but fast characteristics in to a strength rather than a weakness,” said Coach Mathon who is coordinating the defense this year.

“Before the game, coach Mathon told us we were going to be aggressive and the play calling certainly showed that” said defensive captain Russ Burns. With the absence of Middle Linebacker Brad Kerr due to personal commitments, veteran outside linebacker Josh Ricker had to move over and played a position outside his comfort zone. But so did a number of other players, particularly along D-Line. The defense held the MAddogs to only 2 runs beyond 11 yards and only 1 breakdown in coverage leading to a 53 yard TD pass and run. That play came on a slant route in which 2nd year Kory Benoit lost his footing and went to the ground as the catch was being made. “It looked like he had it well covered, but he just went down!! These things happen,” said Coach Mathon. Kory Benoit still had an outstanding first game with 1 batted ball, 1 forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries and 2 tackles.

The Bulldogs defense only gave up 2 big plays of over 20 yards with a breakaway 28 yard run by running back Dwight Lewis and the 53 yard TD pass scored by Mike Briggs. On the rest of the game the defense held the Maddogs to 42 yards in the air on 6 completions for an average of 7 yds per reception and 114 yards rushing forcing 3 fumbles and scoring a safety while pressuring the punter.

Other notables were Dan Routely racking up 4 tackles and Randy Nodder with 3 tackles and 1 tackle for loss while Andrew Finlay netted himself a sack along with Josh Ricker and Dave Boyd getting in on sharing a sack. Russ Burns got off to a good start to the 2010 season by netting himself his first interception of the year. Newcomer Chris Cull could smell the endzone as he closed on a Chris Foster pass, but couldn’t get a handle on the ball as he was heading to the endzone, resulting in an incomplete pass.

“He has had an immediate impact on our defensive backfield and I look forward to seeing him play this summer for us. He’s fitting in very well with the group and he knows how close he was to giving us an 8–6 lead with that shot at a scoring interception," said Mathon.