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With playoff implications abound, both Sault Sabercats Ontario Summer Football League entries had crucial games to end the regular season on Saturday afternoon.
The Sabercats varsity team booked a home playoff game next week thanks to a 37-20 victory over the Huronia Stallions at Superior Heights.
With the win, the Sabercats overtake the Stallions and finish in second place in the OSFL’s East Division.
A quick start was critical for the home side in the victory, which saw the Sabercats lead 22-0 by halftime and extend the lead further in third quarter before the Stallions cut into the lead.
“Our guys played phenomenal in the first half,” said Sabercats coach Jamie Antonello, who cited the preparation done in practice ahead of the game as playing a role in the start.
Antonello added that the Stallions making things close in the third quarter was a byproduct of the Sabercats choosing to play with the wind in the fourth quarter and the Stallions being “a good football team.”
“We told the guys at halftime, ‘they’re going to bounce back and make plays,’” Antonello said, adding that he was overall “happy with the effort” in the game.
“We rebounded in the fourth quarter,” Antonello added.
Asked specifically about the start for the Sabercats, Antonello said it was partially a byproduct of the offence rolling along between the pass and run games.
“It was nice to see the offence get going,” Antonello said. “(Quarterback) Alex Varpio came out and played well. He stayed cool and calm, but his first drive was great. He made the reads and made some plays. We’ve got some receivers that are phenomenal. They certainly made some plays for him. And then (Nathan) Guizzetti got the run game going. That was our best offensive performance by far.”
Antonello added that he was pleased with the Sabercats special teams and defence in the start as well.
The Sabercats opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game as Varpio hit Jaidan Trudeau for an 18-yard touchdown. The convert on the play by Nikolas Vecchio made it a 7-0 game.
Nate Carter made it an 8-0 early in the second quarter as his punt sailed through the Huronia endzone for a single point.
Just over four minutes later, the Sabercats extended the lead as Varpio hit Trudeau again for a five-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
With just under two minutes to go in the half, Guizzetti ran the ball in from 26 yards out. With the convert from Vecchio, the Sabercats led 21-0 before another punt through the endzone made it 22-0 Sabercats heading into the half.
In the third quarter, the Sabercats made it a 29-0 game as Guizzetti ran the ball in from 57 yards out and Vecchio hit the extra point.
On the subsequent kickoff, Huronia’s Judah Davis ran the ball back 100 yards for a touchdown to make the score 29-6.
Huronia cut into the lead further as Noal Keuken caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ivan West to make it a 29-12 game.
After the Sabercats picked up a single point to take a 30-12 lead, Huronia cut the Sabercats lead to 10 points with just over five minutes to go as Davis caught a pass from West and turned it into a 50-yard pass and run for a touchdown. A two-point convert by Matheson Barr on a pass from west made the score 30-20.
The locals capped off the scoring in the final minute as Guizzetti ran the ball in from 15 yards out and Vecchio hit the point after.
Individual stats from the game were not available following the contest.
The Sabercats will be at home next week in the opening round of the OSFL playoffs through their opponent for that game wasn’t determined at the time of writing.
In Saturday’s junior varsity game, the JV Sabercats looked to keep their top division playoff implications in tact and they did just that by blanking the Toronto Jr. Argos by a 31-0 score at Superior Heights.
With the win, the Sabercats playoff fate will be determined by results from other OSFL games on Saturday.
The Sabercats defensive game turned into an impact for the Sabercats in the victory.
“We played a complete game on defence for once,” Sabercats coach Will Basawa said. “We got a fumble, we got a defensive touchdown, some sacks, some interceptions. At the end of the day, that’s all you can really ask for on the defensive side of the ball.”
Basawa also credited the day had by Logan Lajunen defensively. The cornerback had a pair of interceptions in the victory.
“He had a tremendous day,” Basawa said. “He had a very tough responsibility. We knew they were going to bring their number one guy to that side of the field a lot. They tend to have some tendencies in that regard. We told him to play deep and it’ll come to you.”
The Sabercats thought they opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game as A.J. Coccimiglio ran the ball in from five yards out, but the touchdown was called back on a Sault penalty flag.
The locals came back on the next play as Zayn Murdoch hit Drayden Brock for a 15-yard touchdown pass to get the Sault on the board. The convert by Coccimiglio made it a 7-0 game.
Midway through the second quarter, the Sabercats extended the lead as Aiden Wonch picked up a fumble deep in Toronto territory and ran the ball in. The convert from Coccimiglio made it a 14-0 game.
The Sabercats made it a 21-0 game late in the half as Murdoch hit Gevin Grisdale for a 60-yard touchdown pass. Coccimiglio hit the subsequent convert on the play.
After a touchdown by Payton Melchiore was negated by a Sabercats penalty, Coccimiglio hit a 21-yard field goal as time expired in the quarter to make it 24-0 Sabercats going into the half.
With just under three minutes to go, Adam Hasane capped off the scoring on a 19-yard touchdown run. The convert by Coccimiglio made the final 31-0.
Individual stats from the game were not available.
With the victory, the JV Sabercats finish the OSFL regular season with a 5-3 record and await the remainder of play for the day, which will determine their exact playoff fate.
The team entered action on Saturday tied in the East Division standings with points against as the first tiebreaker.
With the shutout, the team could finish fourth in the division pending the outcome of Saturday’s game between the York Lions and Vaughan Rebels. The Rebels entered the weekend tied with the Sabercats and Sudbury Spartans, each with 4-3 records