NSSAFFL: Scotia Division Week 2 Recap

This past week in the Scotia Division had a mixture of everything:  a blowout, a close game and what could be a preview of the championship final.

The Halifax West Warriors came away with a 29-22 win over the Horton Griffins in an exciting thriller.  Meanwhile, the JL Ilsley Judges crushed the Northeast Kings Titans 62-7 while the Auburn Drive Eagles were victorious over the Central Kings Gators 21-6.  Finally, the Cole Harbour Cavaliers got by the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals 28-13.

Here are the complete results from Week two action in the Scotia Division:

HALIFAX WEST WARRIORS 29, HORTON GRIFFINS 22:

Under Friday Night Lights in Wolfville, the Halifax West Warriors defeated the Horton Griffins 29-22 in what could possibly be a preview of the Scotia Division championship finals.

With the victory, the Warriors move to 2-0-0 on the season.  As for the Griffins, they now have a 1-1-0 record.

Warriors pivot Scott Borden scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak while Javon Parris and Tariq Karaballi each scored a rushing major.  Receiver Quintynn Parsons added a special teams touchdown while kicker Khaliad Karaballi was booted a field goal for the victors.

The win was impressive for the Warriors considering one of their top offensive guns; David Nisbet was sidelined with a knee injury that was sustained in last week’s game against the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals.

“Javon Parris and Tariq Karaballi, with David Nesbit not playing we needed big games from the fullback and tailback position,” explains Warriors offensive coordinator David Rent.  “Both Javon and Tariq proved that they can run the ball and where very physical when running the ball.”

However, the team knows that they need to play more disciplined and consistent football as the season moves along.

“As a team we need to definitely cut down on the penalties,” comments Rent.  “The defense is young, but they are improving with each rep; it will be a growing process for the defense.”

“Offensively, we need to be more consistent.  At times we show we can be very explosive and at other times we shoot ourselves in the foot, with penalties, dropped balls, fumbles.”

The Halifax West Warriors will next square off against the Northeast Kings Titans on Sunday September 22nd, 2012 in Canning at 2:00pm.  As for the Horton Griffins, they look to get their first win of the season as they host the Auburn Drive Eagles on Friday September 21st, 2012 in Wolfville.  Kickoff is 9:00pm.

AUBURN DRIVE EAGLES 21, CENTRAL KINGS GATORS 6:

Under Friday Night Lights at Burnside Turf, the Auburn Drive Eagles kept their undefeated record intact.  The Eagles defeated the Central Kings Gators 21-6.

With this win, the Eagles are now 2-0-0 while the Gators slide to 0-2-0 as a result of the loss.

Defensive back Trae Colley had a phenomenal performance in the victory.  In the victory, he registered seven tackles and a fumble recovery.  However, there would be more.

“Trae Colley had one of the best performances I have seen from a high school defensive back in a long time,” comments Eagles head coach Chris Anstey.  “In the first two series he returned a punt for touchdown and had an interception for a touchdown leading us to a 14-0 lead.”

“His electric play got us the early momentum and essentially carried us through the game.”

Quarterback Ben Meade had eight completions in 17 attempts, one touchdown and 134 passing yards for the Eagles.  Receiver Daniel Soulay amassed 58 yards on two catches while scoring a major.

While Anstey was by the perseverance the team showed in nabbing the win; however, their offensive game execution plan.

“It was rewarding to see the team push through the game despite the mistakes made offensively and lack of execution in all three phases,” explains the Eagles head coach. “Daniel Sule and Ben Meade connected big late to put the game away and I saw a tremendous amount of hunger in the eyes of our premier players who were not pleased after a tough outing offensively.”

“Accountability is the biggest message we preach and I think our defense is going to be in for a tough week of practice against our offense.”

Defensively, Artus Biloque and Ryan Willis each registered 11 tackles.  Matt Cohoon chipped in with seven tackles and a sack.  Josh Thomas caught an interception and while accumulating seven tackles.  Romaine Willis had five tackles while John Cole registered four tackles, a forced fumble and a sack.

“We got a tremendous effort from our defensive line lead by John Cole, Matt Cohoon. and Artus Biloque who were massive all game long against a big physical offensive line lead by Justin Murphy,” adds Anstey.  “Montell Thauvette offset the loss of one of our premiere pass rushers, Nathan Simmons who was a last minute scratch too injury and was dominant in every phase of his game this week as well.”

If the Eagles want to mount a serious challenge for the championship title, they need to improve on key areas of their game in order to be successful.

“Our timing was way off this week and we were not able to execute the game plan as designed offensively,” assesses Anstey.  “The biggest key to a successful week will be our synergy moving forward; our offense simply needs to learn patience and to take what is there and not press every play to go the distance.”

“We can’t have championship aspirations until we learn the importance of executing in all three phases and capitalizing on our opportunities mistakes. Trae Colley started us off on a dream scenario and we struggled to keep that momentum all game.”

While they are still progressing as a team, the Eagles say that the Gators were formidable opponents who challenged them the entire game.

“We are still growing and I think the biggest challenge moving forward for such a young program will be how we translate early success into long term motivation,” says Anstey.  “Central Kings has a tough physical well coached group led by Murphy, Holland, Jennings and Morton that will play you tough for 60 minutes.”

“It was a good test for us leading into a premiere team like Horton and we’ll bust our butts to be ready.”

The Auburn Eagles will travel to Wolfville on Friday September 21, 2012 to face the Horton Griffins.  Kickoff is 9:00pm.  Meanwhile, the Central Kings Gators will look for their first win of the season when they travel to Antigonish to face the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals on Sunday September 23, 2012 at 1:00pm.

JL ILSLEY JUDGES 62, NORTHEAST KINGS TITANS 7:

On Sunday afternoon in Halifax, the JL Ilsley Judges scored their second victory of the season by blowing out the Northeast Kings Titans 62-7.

With this win, the Judges are now 2-0-0 while the Titans are now 0-2-0 as a result of the loss.

Tailback Tristen Oliver had a 64 touchdown return to start the game.  Two other tailbacks- Joe Stuckless scored three touchdowns while Martin Clayton added two majors.  Spencer Cotter-Earle and Tom Fiander also scored for the Judges.  Ben LeBlanc had six completions in nine attempts for 113 passing yards.

“Tristen Oliver, Joe Stuckless and Martin Clayton, combined for 487 yards on the ground, each with 150 yards plus,” adds Judges head coach Steve Saunders.  “It’s a nice coaching situation to be in, but tough to figure out who to start.”

Overall, Saunders was impressed with how the team responded on the field on Sunday afternoon.

“With only four seniors starting, our team played with a lot of heart and executed well on both sides of the ball,” comments the Judges head coach.  “For us smaller schools, who don’t have a feeder system, it’s all about commitment and it sure makes a difference when you have most of your team out for every practise.”

“We expect the season to get a lot tougher as we start to roll into the top teams in our division.  I think the top four teams will emerge in the next few weeks I hope we can be there.”

For the Titans, pivot Josh Fogarty had a touchdown and ran for 113 yards.

The JL Ilsley Judges have a bye this upcoming week.  As for the Northeast Kings Titans, they will host the Halifax West Warriors in Canning on Sunday September 23rd, 2012 at 2:00pm.

COLE HARBOUR CAVALIERS 28, DR. JOHN HUGH GILLIS ROYALS 13:

(NOTE:  no player/game stats were available at press time)

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