OVFL PREVIEW: Riders eager to continue last year’s success

Last year start through three weeks:
Varsity: 2-1
Junior Varsity: 3-0

Last year finish:
Varsity: Lost in wildcard round to Etobicoke
Junior Varsity: Lost in conference semi-final to Toronto

Players to watch:

QB Nick Gorgichuk
WR Mitchell Spence
DB Brad Hinton

Varsity

The OVFL regular season hasn’t started yet but Myers Riders varsity head coach Max Palladino is already expecting a long, successful season.

“If we stay pretty healthy…we’ve got a contender again this year,” he said.

The recent OVFL age cutoff cost the varsity Riders about 15 starters but Palladino says the team has a lot of talent returning and a good crop of competitive junior kids coming up.

Leading the Riders offence will be quarterbacks Nick Gorgichuk and Kyle Maclean.
Gorgichuk had nine touchdowns, four interceptions and a 91.6 passer rating last season with JV while Maclean is new to the Riders system.

Palladino says he expects returning receivers Mitchell Spence and Taylor Moussette to take some pressure off the quarterbacks.

Last season, Spence scored four touchdowns on just eight receptions and added two more scores on punt returns. He averaged 31 yards per reception and 16 yards on kickoff returns.

Also expected to help carry the offense is six foot, 235-pound running back Mike Leno. Pallidino expects Leno to be an integral part of his pistol system and says he’s already “a big chunk” of their offense.

On defense, the Riders are anticipating a big season from defensive back Brad Hinton who recorded ten tackles and four sacks last season in junior.

Myers starts the season at home versus the Cornwall Wildcats. The Wildcats are only in their second OVFL season but Palladino is expecting a competitive game. He says he does, however, anticipate a Rider win.

“I expect that (Cornwall) is going to come out strong… it should be a good game but I think we’ll handle it pretty easily offensively, we’re all clicking right now,” he said.

Junior Varsity

At the junior varsity, head coach Matt Murfitt says the team is talented but young and non-tested. The team will face a steep learning curve off the bat with the defending JV champion Brampton Bulldogs.

“We’re just going to have to control our emotions on day one. We’re facing a very talented Brampton team,” he said. “They always have tough physical athletes so we’re going to have to control the flow of the game, hopefully make some plays on offense and limit their big plays on defense.”

The JV Riders have seven returning players from last year after graduating over two dozen to varsity but Murfitt says the team is better overall and a little deeper in the defensive back position.

Riders’ pee-wee product Mike Arruda will most likely start game one at quarterback with a good endorsement from his head coach.

“(Arruda) has a good vision of the field and he makes smart decisions out there…he’s not very careless with the football so we’re looking for him to do some big things for us.”

Arruda threw for 777 yards last season in pee-wee with eight touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Murfitt says he thinks the team could stand to add some depth at linebacker as the team has already had injuries on the defensive side during tryouts and camps. He says he hopes JV can get healthy in the short time before the start of the season but adds that, healthy or not, they will need to match Brampton’s physicality.

“(Brampton) likes to be hit but they don’t like to be hit back so I think we have to take the physical game to them and we’ve got to really take away their big play chances and execute our own.”

All three Riders home-openers (varsity, junior and bantam) will be dedicated to Daron Richardson in support of the Do it for Daron Foundation. Richardson, daughter of former NHL-er and Ottawa native Luke Richardson, committed suicide last year.