After the varsity Mississauga Warriors lost their Week 7 Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) game against the Cambridge Lions, the message from Head Coach Curtis Rukavina to his team this week is “finish.”
At halftime, the Warriors enjoyed a 19-7 lead. However, a second-half comeback resulted in a 28-19 victory for the Lions.
With that in mind, Rukavina said that this week’s emphasis is on the importance of finishing and not letting up on opponents.
“It’s a tough loss to take cause we know we should have had that onem” added Rukavina. “There were a lot of missed opportunities on both sides of the ball that we didn’t capitalize on.”
This week, the Warriors travel to Hamilton to take on the Ironmen. A win for the Warriors will guarantee them the last playoff spot available in the Adam Conference.
On the other hand, a win for Hamilton will give the Ironmen considerable leverage over the Warriors for the last playoff spot, should their records be tied at the end of the regular season. As of now, the Ironmen sit one win behind the Warriors in the standings, which means the stakes in this game are much higher for both squads.
This week in practice, Rukavina is taking a more relaxed approach with his team. However, he does want the team to feel the sense urgency “in order to be participants in the second season.”
“From here on out, we’re in playoff mode,: added Rukavina. “Every time we take the field for the rest of the season it is essentially a playoff game, and that will be our state of mind.”
The Warriors moved the ball through the air much better against the Lions and will look to attack the Ironmen’s secondary this week. Starting quarterback Kevin John will be back in the Warriors lineup. The team will look to utilize John’s dual ability to make plays from the pocket and outside of it in order to keep the Ironmen defence on their heels.
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