2015 OVFL All-Star Prospects Game: “This group was special because they really came together out there”

A cold morning gave way to beautiful sunny skies over McMaster’s Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Just as players began to warm up the clouds broke and cascaded the field with sun. Sunny and in the mid teens, it was perfect football weather for an April day. Football season is back in Ontario and it kicked off the annual OVFL All-Star Prospects Game. A game where aspiring youth football players can help make their dreams to one day play at the university level come true.

The game started simply enough,the Adam team would start with the ball and punt it, Wettges would later return the favour a few plays later as they sized each other up. The offenses did not start great, but only having one day to prep it is expected.

 

However, on the second drive the Adam offence, led by quarterback Alex DiPietro would click, marching 60 yards down field on a drive that would culminate in a nine yard Joshua Roberts touchdown run. On the ensuing possession Wettges  mounted a promising drive, however a backwards run and a sack on consecutive plays ended the drive before they could score.

In the second quarter with Ethan Belback leading the Adams offense, the Wettges would get a needed stop and inherit good field position. However much like their last drive which started with promise, the drive would be killed by consecutive negative plays, the second coming on fourth down.

 

With the ball on their own 51, the Adams team looked to take advantage of the field position.The Adam team, led again by Ethan Belback, would then embark on a 10 play 59 yard drive that would produce seven points via a 12 yard Ethan Belback touchdown pass to Gordon Lam, with the PAT the lead was stretched to 14-0 in favour of the Adam division All Stars. Wettges would not be able to mount anything on the ensuing drive and the Adam team would be content to take a 14 point lead into halftime.

The third quarter saw little action as both defenses stymied the oppositions attempts to move the ball. The offences at most points in this quarter were sloppy. Errant snaps that flew over the quarterbacks caused both teams to lose major chunks of yardage. Fumbles would nullify good runs and overthrown passes wouldn’t even give the receivers a chance. This continued late into the fourth quarter as well, until the Adams team lined up for a game sealing field goal.

The attempt would go wide and land in the hands of Shedler Fervius of the Wettges team who would break off a massive return to the Adams 48 yard line with just under 4:40 to go. The Wettges offense would rally around this and come to life for the first time all game, starting the drive with a 28 yard completion from Connor Smith to Dylan St. Pierre to the Adams 20. Two plays later Wettges would get on the board with a Connor Smith touchdown pass to Keenan Clark, however the PAT would be blocked. The Adam team would recover the ensuing onside and aided by eventual game MVP Jevante Stanley, they were able to run out the clock.

Adams Conference Head Coach Dennis Kozina enjoys coaching the all star games because of the talent around him.

“Makes you look like a genius because these guys are so darn good, you can call anything you want,” said Kozina.  “I told them we had a limited time to come together.”

“This group was special because they really came together out there.”

As for the Wettges Conference, Head Coach Jon Ferguson stressed that in all star games it isn’t always about putting up more points than your opponent.

“In an even like this we’re really looking for the kids to showcase themselves,” said Ferguson.  “The result wasn’t what we were looking for but we’re not going to dwell on it, lots of good individual performances.”

Defensive MVP NiCarlo Funai spoke of the chemistry the All-Star game brings.

“To come together and mix strategies and mix the people form all over Ontario, it’s an amazing thing to do,” said Funai. “I love it.”

Game MVP Jevante Stanley spoke of the “showtime” moments of the game

“It feels good when everyone’s in the crowd watching and you break off a big play,” said Stanley.  “Coaches pat you on the but and you just keep going.”

Players Who Impressed:

Running Backs: To single out a single running back from this game is nearly impossible, the entire position group played extremely well. Especially considered they were playing behind an offensive line they had never seen before. Two running backs took home MVP honours as Jevante Stanley won Game MVP and Joshua Roberts won Offensive MVP.

NiCarlo Funai: NiCarlo finished the game with at least three sacks (one for a fumble), a handful of tackles and a host of quarterback pressures. His get off made it nearly impossible for linemen to block him. His biggest impact came when he was not on the field and the offense would start moving. With Funai on the field anything deeper than a three step drop became very dangerous to the quarterback.

Shedler Fervius: For an offense that wasn’t very hot, Fervius was one of the lone spark plugs. One of the only receivers of the Wettges to catch multiple passes he was shifty in the open field. Fervius was also the ball carrier on the game’s longest and most exciting play, a long return off a missed field goal to give his team life late in the game.