OAKVILLE _ It would have been so nice for the North Bay Bulldogs to have pulled another win this season, but despite the 17–0 loss to the Oakville Longhorns, the Bulldogs came away with a few important victories from the game.
OAKVILLE _ It would have been so nice for the North Bay Bulldogs to have pulled another win this season, but despite the 17–0 loss to the Oakville Longhorns, the Bulldogs came away with a few important victories from the game.
The loss eliminated the Bulldogs from the Northern Football Conference and the Longhorns move on to the championship game Saturday against the Milton Marauders.
North Bay went to Oakville believing an upset could happen. With quarterback Dave Wilson away on a family commitment, his teammates fought to the very last play of the game.
With Wilson not available, Mark McLeod stepped up to lead the offence. Two starting offensive linemen could not make the trip along with wide receiver Luke Culin.
Mick Bilz, the leading rusher for the Bulldogs, suffered an injury to his lower leg last week. He dressed for the game, but physically couldn’t draw any strength from the leg.
“Nevertheless, the guys that stepped into new positions and performed, put in a courageous effort of great proportions,” North Bay head coach Marc Mathon said.
Notwithstanding the challenges, the offence was able to move the ball on Oakville’s defence, but was unable to score.
“We had players wide open deep and within reach of the goal line four times, but our timing and pass protection were off just enough to make a difference. We can’t forget that Mark only had three practices at QB to prepare for this game. I am very happy with the statement this group chose to make and that’s we are a solid fourth-place team,” Mathon said.
The defence continued to show how well its developing at becoming one of the league’s very best. Oakville’s offence is the league’s best and over the course of the last few years has proven to be among the country’s top two amateur offences,” Mathon continued.
Six penalties gave the Longhorns all the help they needed to score their 17 points in the second quarter.
Overall, they held them to 11 completions for 115 yards on 22 attempts and forced them to run the ball more than they wanted to as they gained 103 yards on 19 carries.
“What a courageous group we have playing for us. North Bay football fans can be very proud of the warrior types we have representing them,” Mathon said.
At the end of the game, Oakville chose to try and score with 30 seconds left scrimmaging from the North Bay 25-yard line.
“Their ego was hurt, only being able to score 17 points on us, so they were intent on trying to cross the 20-point mark at the end,” Mathon said.
The Longhorns scrimmaged several plays, but the defence defended the end zone right to the very end and denied Oakville any last minute points.
The entire Bulldogs offence and bench came on the field in a single file to shake the hands of each ‘Dogs defender showing their respect for how they stood their ground, before shaking hands with Oakville players.
“I could speak volumes on how far this group has come in the last couple of years in developing as a team. I am absolutely enjoying the development of this group as an extended family of each member. They are beginning to see the importance of family, they play for each other as brothers, because they care about each other. We have the potential to achieve great things in the not too distant future,” Mathon said.
Ford Morland set the tone for the team in a pre-game personal letter he read to the team, that added a little more glue to the formula drawing the players closer together. “His words were personal and directed to the team, but they were words that were profoundly his that I think this team never expected to hear from him. He impressed us all last night and as a team, we grew closer, again,” Mathon added.
“This is the core of players I believe can go to the next level. We need to develop some depth around them. If we can find a way to maintain 30–35 players at practices all season, we will turn some heads,” Mathon said.,
When asked about what kind of players the team is seeking to add for depth, Mathon said the team has room to add players that are prepared to work hard to achieve team goals as a priority over their own goals.
“I’ve got guys that typically have started for this team, come up to me and say. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team, even if it means sharing playing time or sitting, I just want to help the team.’ We have room to add players that are coachable. Our players have come to realize that I trust them and am prepared to win and lose games with them as the team develops. Conversely, these players trust me and are prepared to win and lose games with my coaching staff, because as a whole, we all constitute the team,” he said.
The pleasant surprise of the night was the team leading six catches Troy Millar made as he found openings in the Oakville secondary. Overall, the receiving corps made a number of great catches.
The defence shut down the NFC’s leading receiver and touchdown scorer, Longhorn Theon James by limiting him to only 17 yards on two receptions and no touchdowns. The Dogs attempted three fourth- down gambles and made two. Further, they added a perfectly executed onside kickoff by Ricky Thompson and recovered by Nick Hallet to start the second half.
Once again North Bay fans made the trip and seemed to be louder than the Oakville fans. “Our fans are outnumbered, but we hear them clearly and appreciate their support tremendously. They are a large part of why we do this,” Mathon said
The Longhorns advance to the final for the 13th consecutive year and 18th out of the last 20 seasons
Touchdown runs of 25 and one yard by Derwin Phillips along with a 21-yard Chad Kennedy field goal were all the ‘Horns would need to prevail. Kennedy added the two converts as well. The defence held the Bulldogs to 50 yards on the ground and 76 in the air.
Phillips led all rushers with 89 yards on 16 carries while Kevin Ramakko had 26 yards on two carries to lead North Bay.
Oakville pivot Steve Nott was good on 11 of 22 throws for 115 yards while McLeod launched 35 passes, completing 11 for 76 yards. Colin Grant led the Oakville receiving corps with four catches for 39 yards and Morland hooked on to three of MacLeod’s offerings for 31 yards.
Linebacker Vince Rinella led the Oakville defence with four tackles, one tackle for a loss and one sack. Perennial allstar Brad Kerr led North Bay with four tackles.
Oakville will host Milton in the third installment of the ‘Battle of Halton’ Saturday at 6 p.m. at Bronte Athletic Field in Oakville. The clubs split their season series.
