OVFL: Varsity Myers Riders defeat rival Cumberland Panthers

In a tightly contested defensive struggle, the varsity Riders were able to pull out an 8-5 win over the cross-town rival Panthers.

Neither team was able to make a big play for the majority of the first quarter. Both defenses were able to shut down the opposition’s running game, and were able to thwart shots taken down the field.

The Riders were eventually able to get into the endzone after Panthers punter Alex Gauthier shanked consecutive punts in his own end, allowing Myers to maintain excellent field position.

Nick Gorgichuk connected with a wide open Jaegar Prot to open the scoring on a 33 yard touchdown pass.

Cumberland blocked the PAT, but quarterback Darcy Lavoie was picked off by linebacker James Mau during the Cumberland counter-offensive.

After Myers marched the ball into Cumberland’s red zone, Daniel Tshiamala came up with a big fumble recovery on a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] and goal inside the Panthers’ five yard line.

The Riders turnover is just one example of the type of offensive errors that allowed the Panthers to stay in the game.

“Offensively we moved the ball up and down the field, but could not finish,” opines Myers head coach Max Palladino. “We would shoot ourselves in the foot with a penalty or a turnover inside the red zone. We should have been up by 21 points in the first half.”

While it wasn’t worth the six Palladino was looking for, the Myers defense was able to keep Cumberland in its own end, forcing the Panthers to voluntarily submit to a safety, brining the score to 8-0.

The teams would trade interceptions before halftime, but the score remained unaltered.

Cumberland came out in the third quarter looking to change its fortune. With the help of a diving catch by Michael Black on 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] down, the Panthers penetrated into Myers’ end, but were unable to come away with any points, thanks in part to the tight coverage of DB Chad Pierce, who broke up a toss in the Riders’ endzone. The Panthers were forced to settle for three.

Alex Gauthier, who settled down in the second half, knocked in a 32 yarder, before helping his team play the field position game with a series of nice punts.

After failing to get the ball out of their own end, Myers voluntarily took a safety, which made the contest 8-5 late in the third.

The move proved to be a smart decision by coach Palladino, who relied on a strong fourth quarter running game to run down the clock.

“In the second half we ran the ball well,” explains the coach. “Carl Bernade and Mike Leno ran hard and picked up big yards on each carry. The O-line started to dominate the line of scrimmage, which led to the big run.”

Also vital in keeping Cumberland away from the endzone was the play of the special teams unit. Palladino was impressive with the group’s improvement from Week 1.

“Special teams were much better this week than last. We changed up some personnel and spent more time in practice this past week.”

As time ticked down the chances of the Panthers became fewer and fewer. The team’s final drive was instantly put at a deficit when defensive lineman Cam Emond rushed Darcy Lavoie for a first down sack.

From there the outcome was academic. The Riders went on to take an 8-5 victory in the OVFL Varsity battle of Ottawa.

“Overall the team played well,” recollects coach Palladino. “The defense had another great game, only allowing three points and stopping their [big players]. Our front seven put a lot of pressure on [Lavoie] and he had no time to set up and hit their big time player [Michael Black]. D-lineman Can Emond and linebacker James Mau had great games.”

Though pleased with the win, Palladino would like to see his squad shore up the holes in their game and play a more disciplined style of football.

“We played well, but need to work on not getting penalties at crucial moments during the game, and [not] turning the ball over.”

Both the Cumberland Panthers and Myers Riders moved to 1-1 on the season.

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OVFL: Varsity Myers Riders defeat rival Cumberland Panthers

In a tightly contested defensive struggle, the varsity Riders were able to pull out an 8-5 win over the cross-town rival Panthers. (more…)

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

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