Bulldogs final post-game report

The Bulldogs were off to a great start with a deep pass completion to Andre Landry for 60 yards only to have it called back on a penalty related to a formation problem. But that penalty was the first of over 15 for almost 200 yards called against the Bulldogs to turn a totally winable game into a 27 – 13 loss to end their season.

The Bulldogs were not the only team in the league to have things not go their way as the Oakville Longhorns lost to Kitchener’s Tri-City Outlaws 14 – 12 and Oshawa Hawkeyes lost to the Toronto Maddogs 21 – 7, each of them upsets.

The Bulldogs luck turned against them when starting offensive tackle Al Butcher went down early with a knee injury, then shortly after him, one of the best offensive guards in the league, Ron Penasse suffered a kidney injury on a seemingly uneventful play. “Losing those two guys and not having John Smales available really affected our ability to execute our game plan” explained Coach Mathon. John Smales, an offensive tackle could not make the trip on Saturday because of a work commitment. “John did everything in his power to try and make the game, but he just opened his new business “Rental City” on Lakeshore Drive, and it has to come first. I also have to say that the guys that filled in did their best, which I believe was good enough to win this ball game," added Coach Mathon.

The Sault Defensive line worked the Dogs offensive line to the limit and yet they were still able to move the football. The problem was a lack of opportunities and terrible field position. “We lost the field position game because of penalties. The physical play of our defense was more than enough to win this game, but 8 penalties were called against our defense on successful 3rd down stops. Rather than forcing the punt and giving our offense field position, we gave them a 1st down….those really hurt," explained Coach Mathon.

On the first Sault TD there were 45 yards in penalties issued against the Dogs, on the second TD drive there was another 45 yards marched off and on the 3rd TD drive there was 60 yards in penalties marched off against the defense. “I am convinced of 2 things in regards to the flags that were thrown, the first is that some of our guys allowed things such as the officiating to get to them and lost some composure. The second thing is that although some officials were working a good game, others were not being impartial and that became very frustrating. Nevertheless, we invited it further, by losing our cool. Some of the penalties were coming from guys that rarely got penalties this year!”

When asked about examples of the problematic officiating, coach Mathon had this to say: “A well officiated game is generally one where the officials are not the feature attraction. In this game their presence was a feature attraction. We committed football infractions, but overall, so did the Steelers. There were enough no-calls against the opponents to frustrate anyone. I think that, without getting into too much detail, the way the game was called put us in a position where they demanded a standard of discipline from our players higher than the standard demanded from the other team, which is not impartial. Nevertheless, we need to be able to rise above it and be as disciplined as we need to be to win…and we didn’t, bottom line and the truth. That is among the last phases of the game we need to improve on for us to make an appearance in the NFC Championship and we will commit to that in the off-season and next year, we are not quitters” explained Mathon.
Up until 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter the Dogs defense held the Steelers offense to less than 35 yards rushing and 99 yards passing and the Dogs were behind 13 – 20. Then the Sault threw the ball to Tim Higgins and scored a 52 yard touchdown after pushing off the defender, another infraction missed by the officials. “It happened right in front of our bench and we all saw it, he put his hand on our guy’s chest and pushed off to make the catch. Our guy was in great position to make a play on the ball. That sewed the game away for them” explained coach Mathon.

“With the exception of a couple of uneventful flare-ups, this was one of the cleanest games we played and we wish the Steelers good luck in their semi-final against the Outlaws, which I believe the Steelers team we faced this weekend can win and reach the finals” said Mathon.

In the end the Steelers managed 38 yards rushing and 151 yards passing for total offensive production of 189 yards. The Bulldogs netted 58 yards rushing and 137 yards passing for a total of 195 yards offense. Even though the offensive line was at a disadvantage, they still managed to generate more offense than the Steelers. And it was nice to see Dwayne Lafayette have a great game again finishing with 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 sack.

The statistics show a much closer game than the score suggests which accentuates the heavy influence penalties had on the outcome. However, the season has come to an end for the Bulldogs and the off-season work will begin sometime soon.

The North Bay Bulldogs Youth Tackle Football will be up and running again this year to provide a place for 11, 12 and 13 year old boys and girls to learn and play tackle football. Anyone interested can contact Marc Mathon at 744-1618, Dean Paquette at 495-4349 or pick up registration forms from Tom Graham at the Driver’s Licensing Bureau on Fisher Street. Tom Graham, the General Manager will be happy to receive registrations and registration fees at his office until the season starts.

Hopefully, if the Bulldogs are able to keep their core roster intact and recruit well for next year and continue to improve their program, including playing a little more disciplined football, reaching the Championship could be an achievable goal in 2006. “I think what stings the most about this loss is that many players realize that this game was the ticket to the Championship game. We expected Toronto to upset Oshawa and we knew there was a good chance the Outlaws could upset the Longhorns. Our club is very confident that we could have won a semi-final against the Outlaws, which we would have hosted in North Bay. So this loss and the way we lost it, stings. I hope nobody forgets it and remembers exactly how it was lost so we don’t repeat history. If we just change that one thing…we get to the final” says Coach Mathon.

The North Bay Bulldogs want to thank all of its sponsors and fans for all their support. Without their support, we could not compete with the 9 other large city clubs the way we do. “You’ll see many of our players coaching at all the high schools this fall and in our youth tackle football league and we’ll see you all on the field next year” said Head Coach Marc Mathon in closing.

Submitted to BayToday.ca