Skip to content

Goal line stand saves Bulldogs

STUFFED! Bulldogs linebacker Mike Gauthier drops Outlaws QB Jeff Nosal for a loss in the first quarter of North Bay's 8-3 win over the Tri-City Outlaws. Photo by Chris Dawson.


STUFFED! Bulldogs linebacker Mike Gauthier drops Outlaws QB Jeff Nosal for a loss in the first quarter of North Bay's 8-3 win over the Tri-City Outlaws. Photo by Chris Dawson.

The North Bay Bulldogs defence put up a memorable goal line stand that may have saved their season.

Bulldogs middle linebacker Brad Kerr kept Tri-City Outlaws QB/WR Jeff Nosal out of the end zone on a quarterback sweep on 4th and goal from the Bulldogs 2 yard line in the dying seconds of the 4th quarter as the locals held on for an 8-3 victory at Rollie Fischer field Saturday night.

However the Bulldogs hero believes the call could have gone either way.

“I was playing mirror the quarterback, I just scraped across perfectly, and the way it happens, I guess he couldn’t outrun it and we both met at the same side, same time,” Kerr said after the game.

“I thought, my honest opinion he was in, but the referees called the game and they make the last call.”

It was another low scoring affair, but it was visitors that got on the board first in the first quarter. The Outlaws were driving but a key sack on 3rd down by Mike Gauthier forced the visitors to attempt a field goal on 4th down and Outlaw kicker Brad Moore made no mistake.

The score remained 3-0 until early in the 2nd quarter when the Bulldogs broke their 9 quarter scoreless streak on a bizarre play. With the Outlaws setting up to punt on 4th down, the center snapped the ball over the punters head into the end zone for a safety making it 3-2 Outlaws.

The Bulldogs offence sputtered again in the first half, but in the second they started to come to life. With back to back first downs the Bulldogs looked to have something going, but Bulldogs quarterback Mark Mcleod tried to hit Andre Landry for a big gain, but the ball went right through his hands and a 48 yard field goal attempt with the wind was left short and right.

The Bulldogs defence continued to stop the Outlaws and during the next possession the Bulldogs offence would finally connect for its first touchdown since week two.

The Bulldogs move the ball within the Outlaws 20 and on 3rd down Mark Mcleod rolled out and found WR Troy Millar who made the catch inside the 5 yard line. Two plays later Mcleod found Dan Gosselin for the touchdown, and after a missed two point conversion the Bulldogs had the lead 8-3.

In the fourth quarter the Bulldogs offence had a great chance to put this one away when the Outlaws fumbled the ball on their own 42. On the next drive Mcleod hit rookie wideout Andre Landry for a huge gain that moved the Bulldogs within the Outlaws 20 yard line. But with regular kicker Rickey Thompson hobbled by an injury earlier in the contest, the Bulldogs backup kicker Scott Jackson could not split the uprights with his attempt within the Outlaws 20.

That miss seemed to shift the momentum to the Outlaws. The visitors brought in their other quarterback Dan Pepe who seemed to ignite the Outlaws offence on what the Outlaws were hoping would be a last minute comeback victory.

Pepe hooked up with quarterback turned receiver Jeff Nosal for two key passes to move the ball into Bulldogs territory. On the same late drive the Outlaws RB Jeremy Lewis broke through the line for a big gain along with two Bulldogs penalties including a face masking call that moved the ball within the Bulldogs 10 yard line with less than two minutes remaining in regulation time.

“Even though I knew those penalties were costing us, I knew that we could stop them, it wasn’t a matter of them being better than us, because we were totally better than them and without the penalties today, it was the only way they scored, it was the only way they marched the ball really they didn’t get anything big on us,” said Bulldogs defensive coach Dean Paquette.

What was more impressive about the game saving goal line stand was that the Bulldogs did it without their defensive leader Randy Nodder, who was taken to hospital by ambulance with what appears to be a serious leg injury he sustained late in the 4th quarter.

“Our defence deserves a lot of credit today and actually with Randy Nodder going out like that, he had one heck of a game up to that point and he’s a great leader, the captain of our defence and hopefully he’s not out for too long but what a step up game that was for us,” Paquette said.

The Bulldogs win moves them to 2-3 on the season and they’ll have their work cut out for them next week at home as they take on the defending league champions, the Milton Marauders.

Bulldog Bites

The game can be seen Tuesday night on Cogeco... Veteran Bulldog Dan Gosselin came out of retirement last week and scored the only touchdown of the game... Wilfred Laurier University fullback Jason Partridge and the cities 2003 athlete of the year was in attendance at Saturday's game.



Reader Feedback

Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
Read more