NSSAFFL: Nova Division Week 2 Recap

CITADEL PHOENIX 6, SIR JOHN A MACDONALD FLAMES 0:

It was not only dubbed as the game of the week, but one of the most anticipated games of the season in the NSSAFFL.  The Citadel Phoenix kept their consecutive winning streak alive by squeaking by the Sir John A MacDonald Flames 6-0 in a Sunday afternoon matchup in Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia.  Since 2008, the Phoenix have enjoyed a 37 game winning streak and dating back to 2007, the Phoenix’s boasts an impressive 54-3 overall record.

With this win, the Phoenix begins the season with a 1-0-0 record while the Flames slide to 0-1-0.

It was a game which was clearly a defensive battle.  The only points of the game came in the second quarter when Phoenix pivot Byron Kavanagh connected with running back Liam Johnston for a one yard touchdown catch.  However, it was clear what dictated the outcome of the game.

“Our defensive line won us this game today and the defensive line was led by Shaun Robinson and Nick Giacomantonio,” comments Phoenix co-head coach and defensive coordinator Jeff Lawley.

Robinson was the defensive star for the Phoenix on Sunday as he registered four sacks and 15 tackles in the game.  Linebacker Matt Nettle also caught an interception in the game.

On the offensive side of the ball for the victors, quarterback Darius Lameire had seven completions in 15 attempts and amassed 120 passing yards. Kavanagh had three completions in seven attempts and 22 passing yards.

“This was a truly hard fought battle and we have all the respect in the world for the Sir John A program,” adds Lawley.  “We consider ourselves very fortunate to have this victory as this was an extremely close game that could have easily gone either way.”

“Sir John A has a fine team with talented athletes and a terrific coaching staff.”

Pulling out a huge victory in one of the most hyped up games of the season is a significant feat for a defending championship team who’s young, inexperienced and vulnerable.  The Phoenix co-head coach explains what this victory means for the team.

“This victory simply means that if both teams advance to playoffs and have identical records, Citadel would host,” explains Lawley, who’s in his 23rd season coaching with the Phoenix.  “That’s it, nothing more.”

“We hope to be in a position that we can play them again as this was a great experience for our team to be involved in such a high calibre game.”

One weakness that was evident on the field for the Phoenix was their offensive game.  Lawley says that the team will need to make adjustments in order to have more success.

“I believe our inexperience on offense reared its head today and we will need to refocus our efforts to have a better showing for next game,” assesses Lawley.  “We need to work on pass protection, timing with our running backs and eliminate mental mistakes.”

“If we can take care of these items we hope it will lead to more sustained drives and consequently more points.  We have some great coaches on offense that will continue to point our kids in the right direction.”

As for the Flames, Hayden Clarke led with the way on offense with 18 carries for 110 yards and two catches for 60 yards.  Quarterback Lorenz MacDonald had six completions in 15 attempts and also threw an interception in the loss.

Defensively, linebacker Keith Langille recovered a fumble, registered a sack and accumulated 11 tackles.  Nate Rostek and Donovan Blue each had seven tackles a piece.

“It was a very disappointing loss for our team and a great win for theirs,” comments Flames head coach Alan Wetmore after the loss. “Both teams fought very hard and I was proud of my teams’ commitment to the game but was disappointed that we could not generate points.”

“Our players gave everything they had.”

While there were some positives to take away from the game for the Flames, Wetmore says that it was clear that the offense struggled throughout the entire game.

“Our offensive coach did not have an answer for their defensive game plan,” reflects the Flames head coach, who is in his seventh season with the team.  “Our defense played great but our offense needs to adapt better to situations.”

“This is more a responsibility of the coaches than the players.”

Even though the Flames came up short, it doesn’t mean they will change their goals.  Overall, Wetmore is impressed by the effort put forth by the team.

“Regardless of what happened, we are going to do the same thing either way which is to come out every day and try to get better in all areas of our game,” explains Wetmore.  “We here to make them better day in and day out, win or lose.”

“All in all it was a great day for the development of both teams and I was very proud of our guys.”

The Citadel Phoenix will attempt to keep their consecutive unbeaten streak intact when they host the Dartmouth High Spartans on Monday September 24th, 2012 at Burnside Turf.  Kickoff is 6:00pm.  Meanwhile, the Sir John A MacDonald Flames will seek their first win of the regular season when they travel to Truro to take on the Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars on Sunday September 23, 2012.  Game time is 1:00pm.

CHARLES P ALLEN CHEETAHS 61, PRINCE ANDREW PANTHERS 8:

On Thursday night at Burnside Turf, the Charles P Allen Cheetahs dismantled the Prince Andrew Panthers, 61-8.

With this win, the Cheetahs have a 1-0-0 record. Meanwhile, the Panthers are still winless this season with a 0-1-0 mark.

Receiver Ryan Keays led the way for the victors with three touchdowns (including one on a punt return) and three receptions for 78 yards.  Two way player Taylor MacDonald chipped in with two majors while amassing 71 yards on nine rushes.  He also recorded a sack on defense.  Alex Bayne added to the scoring with a touchdown on a punt return and running back Kyle Shields rushed for 73 yards on six carries.

Cheetahs quarterback Sean Muir had seven completions in 11 attempts and two rushing touchdowns while gathering 112 passing yards.  Moreover, he amassed 40 rushing yards on five carries and scored a touchdown.  Kicker Chase Kodejs was spectacular on special teams as he was successful on two field goal and seven conversion attempts.

Defensively for the Cheetahs, Jay Hachey had four solo tackles and three sacks while Jesse Boudreau accumulated 4 solo tackles, a sack and a safety.  Malcolm Hyde registered three solo tackles and a sack while Matt Bayne had three solo tackles and a fumble recovery in the win.

Alain Lefebvre, the Cheetahs defensive coordinator says that all three units each played a significant role in the team’s first victory of the season.

“On offence we put some long drives together and were balanced in our attack, moving the ball well on the ground and through the air,” assesses Lefebvre after the game. “Defence played a disciplined game and did a solid job of containing a very athletic quarterback.”

“We got a good effort on special teams as well and we`re able to score points off our return game.”

While this may have been a dominating win, there are some areas the Cheetahs need to work on for continued success during the regular season.

“We still have a lot of room for improvement; however, as we`ve yet to put together a full four quarters of play,” says the Cheetahs defensive coordinator. “It’s something that we won`t be able to get away with as the season progresses.”

Panthers head coach Joe Flemming assesses what went wrong for the team in the loss and what the team needs to improve on in the coming days.

“We started out okay against a great team from CP Allen but we lost focus and they attacked our weaknesses just as they should,” comments Flemming.  “We have a lot to work on to prepare for Sackville on Saturday.”

“We’re back to fixing some things this week in order to get our level of play to where it needs to be.”

The Charles P Allen Cheetahs’ next test will be on Thursday September 20th, 2012, when the team faces the Lockview Dragons at Burnside Turf.  Kickoff is 6:00pm.  As for the Prince Andrew Panthers, they will try to get their first win of the season when take on the Sackville High Kingfishers at Metropolitan Field on Saturday September 22, 2012.  Game is slated to start at 2:00pm.

COBEQUID EDUCATIONAL CENTRE COUGARS 35, SACKVILLE HIGH KINGFISHERS 0:

On Sunday afternoon in Truro, the Cobequid Educational Cougars shut out the Sackville High Kingfishers 35-0.

As a result of the victory, the Cougars are 1-0-0 on the season while the Kingfishers are 0-1-0.

Cougars pivot Gab Bagnell led the way as he scored three touchdowns and had 5 carries for 35 yards.  Additionally, he had six completions in sixteen attempts for 71 passing yards and threw one interception in the win.  Defensive back Nick Simpson scored a major on a 25 yard interception return and also a 45 yard punt return score.

Offensively, running back Chandler Jennings had 13 carries for 100 yards while Ben Petrie had seven carries for 50 yards.  Receiver Kyle Scott caught the ball twice for 36 yards while kicker Nick Zschielle was successful on five conversion attempts.

Linebackers Patrick Smith and Calder Saunders contributed to the win.  Smith had eight tackles on the day while Saunders chipped in with six tackles.

“We made a number of improvements this week, over last week,” adds Cougars quarterbacks coach Tom Shreve.  “We will continue to strive to fine tune our efforts into a more consistent approach on every down played.”

“Every game and practice continues to be a building block. Nick Simpson had an excellent game making some great plays.”

The Cobequid Cougars face a tough challenge at home when they host the Sir John A MacDonald Flames on Sunday September 23rd, 2012 in Truro.  Kickoff is 1:00pm.  The Sackville High Kingfishers will look to get into the win column when they host the Prince Andrew Panthers on Saturday September 22nd at Metropolitan Field.  Game time is 2:00pm.

DARTMOUTH HIGH SPARTANS 38, LOCKVIEW DRAGONS 15:

On Sunday evening at Burnside Turf, the Dartmouth Spartans continued their undefeated streak as they defeated the Lockview Dragons 38-15.

The Spartans record is 2-0-0 while the Dragons slide to 0-1-0.

“Cody Cluett played extremely well, completing 80 percent of his passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns,” comments Spartans offensive coordinator Nick MacLeod.  “Our receivers also had a big day, with three Spartans gaining over 90 yards receiving and six different guys catching the ball.”

“Running back Andrew Vieira started us off with a huge 73-yard TD run, and he ran tough all game breaking tackles and keeping his legs moving through contact.”

Offensively, Noah MacNaughton had two receiving majors  (seven yards, 35 yards) while receiver Jesse Rudel scored a 30 yard touchdown reception.  Nathan O’Quinn-Wetzel had a 60 yard touchdown reception.  Moreover, he booted a field goal and was successful on four conversion attempts.

Spartans head coach Nick Barr echoes the sentiments of MacLeod of the team’s offensive play this week.

“Cody Cluett had another impressive game as Cody has a great arm, and he showcased that ability against Lockview,” adds Barr.  “The ball was coming out crisp and clean, and he was hitting receivers in stride.”

“Our receivers corps of Nathan O’Quinn-Wetzel, Noah MacNaughton, Jesse Rudel, Connor Moore, Nick Jennex, and Carl Drinovz also had a very strong game with almost no dropped balls.”

Travis Stanfield added a PAT while Trevor Gallant and Thomas Poirier each caught an interception in the win.

“The defense as a whole played great and I thought we did a better job of tackling and forcing the ball to the inside,” assesses defensive coordinator Randy Rudel.  “Our pass coverage was also good as shown by our two picks and shout-outs to Thomas Poirier and Kevin James for their play on defence this week.”

Barr says there were a couple of defensive standouts for the Spartans in the victory.

“Defensively, Trevor Gallant & Thomas Poirier had very good games on both defense and special teams, as did Isaac Berglund,” adds Barr.

There were several keys to the Spartans victory on Sunday evening.

“I think our pass protection was much improved this week which gave Cody Cluett enough time to find the open receivers,” reflects the Spartans head coach.  “I was also happy with the way that we gang-tackled and had defenders flying to the ball.”

“Our back-side pursuit on plays away was strong, and we were able to force a lot of the outside runs back inside into the heart of our defense.”

However, there are some areas the Spartans would like to improve upon.

“We had some missed blocking assignments in the running game, so we’ll have to work on that this week in practice,” comments Barr.   “I think we need to be a little tougher inside both offensively and defensively.”

“If we can be more aggressive in the trenches, I think we can compete with the top teams in Division 1.”

Rudel also agrees with Barr that there are some areas which need to be shored up in the coming days.

“We need to come up on run support better and fill the line gaps with more authority,” adds Rudel.  “Generally, I think we need to be a bit tougher as a team.”

“Overall, it was a great game, and most of our kids had an opportunity to get on the field and be part of it, so it was a great learning experience for us.”

For the Dragons, running back Dan Mader and slotback Colin MacLean each scored a touchdown while kicker Colin Murney has three successful conversion attempts in the loss.

“Lockview played well against us and is certainly much improved over the team that I saw against Sir John A last week,” says Barr of the Spartans opponent.  “Lockview always seems to give us trouble, so this was a great win for us.”

“The next few weeks will be critical in terms of our positioning within Division 1 as we play Citadel, Sir John A, Cobequid, and CP Allen in the next four games. We look forward to the challenge, and we expect to learn a lot about ourselves over the coming weeks.”

The Dartmouth Spartans will face a huge challenge when they square off against the defending provincial champions, the Citadel Phoenix on Monday September 24th, 2012 at Burnside Turf.  Game time is 6:00pm.  Meanwhile, the Lockview Dragons will take on the Charles P Allen Cheetahs on Thursday September 20th, 2012 at Burnside Turf.  Kickoff is 6:00pm

Citadel Photos 1 through 4 courtesy of Cathy Connell
Charles P Allen versus Prince Andrew Photo 5 courtesy of Karrie-Ann Buchanan

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