Bulldogs ready to hit the field

The 2008 season was a challenging year of change for the North Bay Bulldogs. The biggest news for the organization cames with the partnership with Promo Sports Depot on McIntyre Street which saw the whole look of the Bulldogs undergo a huge improvement with brand new uniforms. Promo Sports Depot supplies the club and fans with all their hats T-Shirts, jackets and Bulldogs logo'd material, even clocks.

Defensively, the top 2 tacklers were from North Bay as Defensive Back Brian Samson topped the league with 42.5 tackles and Dave Boyd was next with 29.5. Unfortunately, when a Defensive Back leads the league in tackles, it means the tackles are being made downfield. New young linemen like Kris Dicht, Ben Daigneault and Andrew Finlay joining the D-Line were the biggest change to the defense in 2008 with the loss of veteran All-Star Mike Gauthier. In 2009 all of these men are back with a year’s more experience and should greatly improve the defense, hopefully resulting in the line backing core leading in tackles. Dave Boyd came 2 sacks short of leading the league and will be looking to improve on that this year. The linebacking core appears to be solid this year with a good mix of veterans and younger players, as does the defensive backfield, working hard to prepare for the passing and run games they will be facing this season.

Offensively, the Dogs saw a new face at the QB position with young Zach Moreau stepping into the ring in game one. Despite displaying good skills and some real potential for occupying that position, the league’s high level of play proved to be a little too much too early for young Moreau.

Dave Wilson stepped into the position of QB for the final 3 games of the season and the offense was energized. Over those 3 games Wilson passed for 615 yards, completing 64.9% of his pass attempts. This was enough for him to earn the second best passer rating among NFC QBs with 50 or more pass attempts. Wilson was second only to Tri-City’s Jeff Nosal, surpassing Oakville’s former Heck Creighton winner from Queen’s University, Tom Denison, once named the country’s best university quarterback.

The credit for that accomplishment is shared with a great core of receivers, returning for 2009 who catch the ball and an Offensive Line that give the QB time to find the open man. Offensively, the season ended with two closely fought games losing 28–21 to the eventual NFC Champs the Tri-City Outlaws and leading Oakville Longhorns with 11 minutes left in the game but couldn’t hold on to put the game away. These tough losses left the club with a 1–6 record for 2008 with their lone win coming in Kingston.

The Dogs also had leads in their games against Milton and Sarnia as well as against Oakville, but just could not convert them into wins. That was the difference between a 4–3 season and the 1–6 season they had. The Bulldogs are looking to continue with the momentum built in the latter part of last year and develop a great 2009 season.

All of the action begins this Sunday as the 2009 Training Camp opens at 12:00 noon on the field at Chippewa Secondary School.

Veteran and new players are to report to camp on Sunday ready to practice with equipment if they have it. The Bulldogs always welcome new players and volunteers. Each year we get some new player or volunteer makes a huge impact on our club.

Submitted to BayToday.ca