Some great football action ruled the Thanksgiving long weekend in the Scotia Division of the Nova Scotia Student Athletic Federation Football League (NSSAFFL).
In a very tight contest, the Auburn Drive Eagles got by their crosstown rivals, the Cole Harbour Cavaliers 9-6. Meanwhile, the JL Ilsley Judges kept their undefeated record intact with a 27-21 win over the Avon View Avalanche. The Horton Griffins crushed the Northeast Kings Titans 57-0. Finally, the Halifax West Warriors ended the weekend with a 55-24 victory over the Central Kings Gators.
Here is the complete action from Week 5 of the Scotia Division:
AUBURN DRIVE EAGLES 9, COLE HARBOUR CAVALIERS 6:
On Sunday afternoon at Burnside Turf, the Auburn Drive Eagles bested their crosstown rivals, the Cole Harbour Cavaliers in an extremely tight and competitive game 9-6.
With this win, the Eagles now have a 4-1-0 record (eight points). As for the Cavaliers, they slide to an even 2-2-0 record (four points) on the season.
Eagles’ versatile player Trae Colley had an impressive outing on Sunday. As pivot, he connected with Daniel Sule for an 18 yard touchdown reception in the game. Moreover, Colley had seven completions in 12 attempts for 71 passing yards while amassing 42 rushing yards on seven carries. On defence, he registered 11 tackles.
“I really don’t know where we would be as a team without Trae Colley as he continues to be everything we ask of him despite the expectation and pressure I put on him,” commented Eagles head coach Chris Anstey. “The guy is a premiere defensive back and returner in this league and he literally plays every snap with his role as our starting quarterback.”
Offensively for the Eagles, running back Angus Fraser rushed for 87 yards on 16 carries while receiver Brandon Stubbs had four catches for 32 yards.
Matt Cohoon led defenders with 13 tackles (four for a loss) and two sacks. Artus Biloque registered eight tackles (two for a loss) and one sack while Josh Thomas had seven tackles (four for a loss) and one sack. John Cole caught an interception while adding seven tackles (four for a loss) and three and a half sacks. Three other players who played a significant role in the defensive unit’s success were Ryan Willis (seven tackles/three for a loss), Ro Willis (six tackles/two for a loss) and DreVon Howe-Smith (five tackles/three for a loss, one sack and a forced fumble).
“John Cole and Matt Cohoon were absolute beasts out there today in the front seven and adapted to the new system changes without missing a beat,” explained the Eagles head coach of the defensive unit. “Drevon Howe-Smith played a huge roll and gave us the ability to convert our fronts seamlessly.”
“I think the addition to Dre on our defensive line allowed Matt to excel as another two way player for us and I am excited to see them build off their success today. The back end of our defense is really starting to take form as well lead by “Mr Everything”, Josh Thomas and our most versatile defender Ro Willis.”
Without a doubt, the defense and team focus were integral parts of the victory against the crosstown rivals from the Cavaliers.
“Our focus was a huge difference today; you could see it from the outset that our staff and team were locked in and not distracted by the rivalry,” said Anstey. “I stressed to the team not to buy into the hype or make the game bigger than it was and they responded very well as we had a methodical approach to the offensive game plan against a formidable defense in Cole Harbour who we knew would be well coached by their defensive coordinator.”
“The performance of our defense was by far our best effort of the year against a solid power running team. We made some significant additions to our scheme over the week and as a whole the unit was sound in all phases.”
While they pulled out a huge win, the Eagles know there are key areas of their game that they must improve on which were exposed in Sunday’s game.
“We missed a lot of big opportunities in the game and stalled at least seven times in the red zone,” assessed the Eagles head coach. “I give credit to Cole Harbour for a sound red zone plan but we missed wide open guys and didn’t finish the way we are capable.”
“The red zone is all about attitude and want to and we need to be more hungry there and learn to finish and put teams away when the opportunity presents itself. I felt we controlled the game but we should have more points to show for it and gave up a bad touchdown late with two penalties on second and very long.”
Ultimately, Anstey gave full props to the Cavaliers for mounting a huge challenge on the field during the game.
“We dressed 31 players for this game to Cole Harbour’s 50 and they had some of the most physically dominant players we have faced to date in Jesiah Hathaway, Alex Penny and Josh Bray,” explained Anstey. “The size difference between the players was almost laughable in their favor and those three were a physical force and deserve to be commended for their efforts.”
“Offensively they have some of the premiere athletes I have seen as well lead by Arlington Beals who ran the ball with an attitude and beast mode effort; he should be proud of his performance and for playing right to the last snap of the game.”
Now the Eagles must direct their focus towards their next opponents, the Halifax West Warriors.
“Next up is the West and the Dave’s (Warriors coaches David Rent and David Kelly) will have their guys ready to play and prepared,” adds Anstey. “They are in my opinion the team to beat in our division.”
“Scott Borden and David Nesbit are two of the best players in our division and probably in Nova Scotia high school football, and they will present a test unlike any we have faced this year.”
“We are excited for the challenge and look forward to trying to get to 5-1 Monday night.”
As mentioned above, the Auburn Drive Eagles will face one of the toughest challenges of the season when they visit the Halifax West Warriors on Monday October 15th, 2012 at Mainland Commons. Kickoff is 6:00pm. Meanwhile, the Cole Harbour Cavaliers will try to get back into the win column as they host the JL Ilsley Judges at Burnside Turf on Friday October 12, 2012. Game start is 7:00pm.
JL ILSLEY JUDGES 27, AVON VIEW AVALANCHE 21:
At Rockystone Field in a Sunday afternoon match-up, the JL Ilsley Judges got past the Avon View Avalanche 27-21.
With this win, the Judges remained tied with the Halifax West Warriors atop of the standings with a 4-0-0 record (eight points). Meanwhile, the Avon View Avalanche are still winless on the season with a 0-4-0 mark (zero points).
The Avalanche got on the scoreboard first as they scored on the first drive of the game. However, the Judges responded back quickly by scoring 21 straight points.
At halftime, the Judges enjoyed a 21-6 lead.
In the second half, the Avalanche dominated and outplayed their opponents. However, the Judges made a huge stop on the Avalanche at their own 30 yard line with under a minute to go in the game.
Quarterback Ben LeBlanc had nine completions in 17 attempts for 141 yards and scored on a keeper from the one yard line. Leblanc connected with three different players for majors: Andray Brady on a 25 yard pass, Spencer Cotter-Earle on a 10 yard pass and tailback Martin Clayton on a 35 yard reception. Overall, Clayton amassed 121 rushing yards on 16 carries.
“We were down five starters so we knew we were it tough as we had to make a lot of adjustments during the week,” reflected Judges head coach Steve Saunders after the game. “The kids responded when they had to but, we still gave up too many big plays.”
“I can’t say enough about how our grade 10’s played and how a few of the kids kept getting up after an injury. Eric Bowdridge, Falon Hodge, Lavante Gillis and Tristen Oliver made tackle after tackle giving up a lot of size.”
However, Saunders said the Avalanche’s record is deceiving as they have proven to be formidable opponents on the field.
“Avon View played a tough physical game and by no means looked like a winless team,” commented the Judges head coach. “They will be around for the playoffs and could be a spoiler as they have a few outstanding athletes who are getting better every week.”
“We had a few breaks again today and the score could easily have gone the other way.”
As one of the pleasant surprises this season in the Scotia Division and the league, the Judges may be enjoying the success but are taking nothing for granted.
“We are not the best team in our division but certainly are playing beyond what I thought capable with so many grade 10’s starting,” added Saunders. “JL Ilsley has never been 4-0 and have had only two winning seasons so regardless of how this ends, we are going to enjoy the ride.”
“We have four tough games ahead so there’s a lot of football left.”
The JL Ilsley Judges will next face the Cole Harbour Cavaliers under Friday Night Lights at Burnside Turf. The game will be on Friday October 12th, 2012 at 7:00pm. The Avon View Avalanche, still searching for their first win of the season, host the Central Kings Gators on Sunday October 14th, 2012 at 1:00pm.
HORTON GRIFFINS 57, NORTHEAST KINGS TITANS 0:
In Canning on Sunday afternoon, the Horton Griffins had little trouble with the Northeast Kings Titans. The Griffins shutout the Titans 57-0.
With this win, the Griffins now sport a 3-2-0 (six points) record. As for the Titans, the team sits at the bottom of the Scotia Division standings with a 0-5-0 (zero points) mark.
Griffins quarterback Kyle McMullin had seven completions in 14 attempts for 152 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in the victory. He also scored a major.
“Kyle had another good outing for us at quarterback as he is very accurate and is really starting to make good reads,” added Griffins head coach Alec Hyndman of McMullin. “It looks like after completing most of his passes to Cam (Davidson) last week, he may have found a new favorite in Mike Boylan.”
“We will keep pushing him to spread the wealth, making his reads, and running when he has too.”
Cam Davidson rushed for 116 yards on 11 carries and found the endzone once while Zach Gouthro amassed 140 rushing yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns (one of those a 25 yard touchdown reception).
“Cam and Zach were solid for us again on the offensive side of things; the ability to give the ball to two quality running backs on any given play and use the other to fake is a big plus for us,” reflected the Griffins head coach after the win. “They work hard for us week in and week out.”
“Cam was able to get back over 200 yards all-purpose with four punt returns for 119 yards as well as having a touchdown called back on a return, and one kick return for 25 yards.”
Two other offensive guns had solid games for the Griffins. Mike Boylan registered 75 yards on five catches and scored a touchdown while Brandon Whitman had a 35 yard touchdown reception. Kicker Diego Oliveira was successful on seven conversion attempts. Moreover, he attempted two field goals; however, one was blocked.
Overall, Hyndman was impressed with the play of the team’s offensive line.
“It was the first week I was happy with the overall play of the offensive line group,” said Hyndman. “We had two starters out with five minutes gone in the first quarter and the boys stepped up, filled those spots, and really played well when we really needed them to.”
“It shows how hard they have been working and I was proud of them.”
On defense, Kirklyn Levy Davidson led the way with three sacks. Tyler Simmonds and Ian Young each had picks for the Griffins.
“Our defense proved again that they are main part of any win with lots of tackles for losses and lots of turnovers,” added the Griffins head coach. “We had 18 guys rotating on the defensive side for the main part of the game and the coaches have done a really good job of building depth with limited player experience from most of our kids.”
“With Kirklyn and Whitman on their ‘A’ game, the rest of the team stepped up with them and played at a higher level than they have in weeks past.”
While this was a huge win for the Griffins, there were some areas exposed that the team needs to continue to work on if they are to make a serious push for the playoffs.
“We had a solid outing, but we came out flat in the first quarter with three fumbles – one of which was on the one yard line,” explained Hyndman. “We need to work hard this week on ball control as we have been fumbling way too much for my liking and to win close games that needs to end as soon as possible.”
“With a short week, we are going to push the boys hard to get our fundamentals shored up, and play sound smart football on the road versus John Hugh Gillis, which at this point in the season is a must win for us if we want to be in the top four. The possibility of being 6-2 and finishing fourth is something we are keeping a close eye on so to us, every week is a playoff week and that will be our approach going forward.”
As mentioned, the Horton Griffins will travel to Antigonish to face the Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals on Friday October 12th, 2012 at 7:00pm. Meanwhile, the Northeast Kings Titans have a bye this upcoming week.
HALIFAX WEST WARRIORS 55, CENTRAL KINGS GATORS 24:
In a Thanksgiving Monday matchup at Mainland Commons, the Halifax West Warriors cruised past the Central Kings Gators 55-24.
As a result, the Warriors are tied atop of the Scotia Division with the JL Ilsley Judges with a 4-0-0 (eight points) record while the Gators slip to 1-4-0 (two points) on the season.
Warriors quarterback Scott Borden and offensive dynamo Quintynn Parsons led the way for the victors. Borden was near flawless on the field as he had 12 completions in 13 attempts for 233 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Parsons caught the ball eight times for 213 receiving yards and scored three majors.
Running back Javon Parris found the end zone once while carrying the ball six times for 91 rushing yards. Tariq Karaballi powered his way down the field to score two majors and accumulate 51 yards on three carries while Lucas Kennie scored on a three yard touchdown reception.
Defensively for the Warriors, Luke Byrne had five solo and six assisted tackles to lead the way. Josh Sampson registered three solo and four assisted tackles while Jalen Spicer added two solo and five assisted tackles. Ahmed Ramadan chipped in with three solo and four assisted tackles in the win.
We had a well balance offense and we were able to keep the pressure on Central Kings throughout the game,” commented Warriors offensive coordinator David Rent after the game. “We had 305 passing yards and 186 yards rushing.”
“However, we need to improve on tackling on special teams and defense.”
Even though the Gators lost this game, the team had some positive performances they could take away from the game. Ultimately, they know what areas they need to improve on in the coming weeks in order to garner more wins.
“Our young rookie running back Ben Best scored all three of our touchdowns while our quarterback Jacob Shephard also had a good game directing the offense to a few successful drives,” said Gators head coach Larry Priestnall after the loss. “Our defense played with some heart but gave up a lot of big plays which hurt us.”
“We still have three more games left in the season and our team is progressing and every week, they show progress in different areas. What we need to start doing is putting all this together in one game.”
The Halifax West Warriors will next host the Auburn Drive Eagles on Monday October 15th, 2012 at Mainland Commons. Kickoff is 6:00pm. As for the Central Kings Gators, they hope to get a win as they go on the road to face the Avon View Avalanche on Sunday October 14th, 2012 at 1:00pm.
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