Imperials thump Bulldogs in season opener

Bulldogs WR/RB Matt Gordon breaks a tackle for a decent gain. Photo by Chris Dawson.

The Sarnia Imperials scored 27 unanswered points as they defeated the North Bay Bulldogs 27-7 in the locals home opener Saturday night at Rollie Fischer field.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring on a punt return by rookie Kwadwo Adusei in the first quarter and took a 7-6 lead into the locker room at half time.

But the run oriented Imperials, who wracked up more than 400 yards on the ground against the Bulldogs last season, showed more of a balanced attack as Imperials QB Steve Perry through for a pair of touchdowns in the victory along with a rushing score and an interception return for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs got beaten soundly in the turnover game as rookie quarterback Zach Moreau threw five interceptions, one fumble and the team allowed two turnover on downs after gambling on 4th down.

Bulldogs head coach Marc Mathon doesn't blame his quarterbacks turnovers as the turning point.

“We got a young quarterback who I think shouldered a little bit too much responsibility today we are going to talk with him about that," said Mathon.

"Zach has an arm, he can throw, we just have to work on him slowing down the game and when that happens he is going to be very good.”

The Imperials turned the ball over just once as Scott Brown picked off Perry in the second quarter, but on the next play Moreau muffed a snap and the Imperials recovered with the next series resulting in a 25 yard touchdown run by Matt Browning.

The Bulldogs dominated in the penalty department including a hold on what would have been a second punt return touchdown for Adusei in the second quarter. The Dawgs may have also been victimized on a non-call as Zach Moreau was picked off by lineman Charles Montgomery who appeared to jump offside well before Moreau received the ball on the snap. The result was a interception return for a 3rd quarter score to make is 20-7.

Flash Gordon

Bulldogs WR/RB Matt Gordon was the one bright spot on offence as he easily ran for 100 yards - most on option plays to the outside.

"Matt played well," noted Mathon.

"He’s a good leader out there and he really runs hard and he does all his talking with his actions and you know we want to feed him the ball."

Belichekism?

The Imperials Steve Perry threw for a long touchdown pass late in the game to receiver Bo Hunter. Former Bulldogs QB Jason Ferriera - the color commentator for the TV Cogeco broadcast of the game to be aired later this week - felt it was a cheap shot play done with the game out of reach.