Gladiators open on a winning note

For his first regular season OFC (Ontario Football Conference) game as head coach of theSudbury Gladiators, Reg Bonin was able to ease into the role nicely.

Five different players reached the end zone as the varsity Gladiators thumped the Clarington Knights 47-0, building up a 33-0 lead at the half. After August Danyluk set the tone early, hauling in a 20 yard TD pass from Hunter Holub, several teammates followed suit.

By the end of two quarters of play, Matt Glass, Scott Friesen and Jake Graham had all recorded their first majors of the 2014 season, with the defense adding a safety and Friesen rounding out the scoring with a field goal and four converts.

The visitors wasted little time putting the finishing touches on their work in the second half, as Holub carried in from close range early in the third quarter, and Friesen adding his second TD of the game.

“We played well,” Bonin said, succintly summarizing his thoughts. “I liked our game in the sense that we were disciplined. When the game started to get out of hand, there are moments where it could have gotten chippy. Our guys did a good job of avoiding that stuff.”

In fact, the discipline carried through to all facets of the game, with the Gladiators flagged for penalties on only four occasions in total. At least as important, it wasn’t just coach Bonin who enjoyed the opportunity to ease into a new environment.

“I was really happy with the fact that everyone got a lot of playing time,” he said. “It was a great learning opportunity for a lot of guys who haven’t played at this level yet.”

While Bonin conceded that Clarington is certainly not likely to be all that close to the top opposition that Sudbury will face this summer, there was still plenty to be pleased with on his side of the ball.

“Defensively, our pass coverage was really strong,” he noted. “We were able to contain their quick guys. Our offensive line played really well. Even when we were up and everyone knew that we were going to run the ball, we were still able to run the ball effectively.”

Even the special teams chipped in. Punter Jon Landry extended a pair of drives, recovering his own punts. Allan Campbell led the defensive unit with three sacks, while Miller Donnelly nabbed an interception in his first game up from the junior varsity ranks.

With game one in the books, the Gladiators now prepare to face what they expect to be a much tougher adversary as the Oakville Titans head north for a double-header next Saturday at theJames Jerome Sports Complex.

The junior Gladiators kick off at noon, with the varsity lads taking to the field at 3:00 p.m. The junior Gladiators will look to rebound from a 37-6 loss to a very solid Clarington side, one which head coach Brandon Dougan noted had few, if any, glaring weaknesses.

“That team we played was really, really good,” said Dougan. “I thought we had good size. Their quarterback was unreal. That said, we gave them about half of their points.”

The Sudbury major came courtesy of a six yard pass from King Gil-Afau to Cole Way, with the defence providing a couple of other highlights thanks to interceptions from Simon Cope and Brodie Laberge.

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