The Argos received the kickoff to start the game and they took the field lead by quarterback Treyion Charles. The Argos started in the spread Pistol formation in which they looked to attack the Sturgeon defense through the air. However, the Sturgeon defense forced a fumble on the very first offensive play; the ball was recovered by Nick Paquette of the Sturgeon.
The Sturgeon started with great field position and they made it count for after an important third and short conversion by quarterback Josh Elsley, the Sturgeon struck first when fullback Marco Parete plunged over the goal line. The extra point was added by Blake Maxfield and the Sturgeon had a 7-0 lead.
Following a strong kickoff return by Mark Del Fatti the Argos looked to respond to the Sturgeon score. The drive was once again cut short when the Argos once again fumbled and this time the ball was recovered by Parete and the Sturgeon’s offense once again had great field position.
The Sturgeon took advantage when Elsley scored on a quarterback sneak to make the score 13-0. The Sturgeon snuck in a two point conversion which saw Elsley take the ball around the left end for the score, this gave the Sturgeon a 15-0 lead.
The Argos stuck with their offense of spreading the field and attacking the Sturgeon defense through the air. The Argos once again made another mistake when Charles’s pass was intercepted by Paquette and the Argos drive was once again cut short.
The Argos defense managed to stop the bleeding somewhat by keeping the Sturgeon from reaching the end zone and they forced the Sturgeon into a field goal attempt. The field goal kick my Maxfield was wide but the ball scooted through the end zone for the single making the score 16-0 in favour of the Sturgeon.
The Argos offense tried to slow the pace of the game down on their next offensive position and they tried to pound the ball on the ground in order to give their defense a chance to recuperate and collect themselves. This saw some success but the Argos were forced to punt the ball back to the Sturgeon.
The Sturgeon took the field once again as the first quarter came to an end. The Sturgeon managed a fourth and short conversion with a quarterback sneak by Elsley which kept the drive alive. Elsley connected with Dale Bressette on a one yard pass to increase the Sturgeon lead. Maxfield added the point after to make the score 23-0.
When the Argos took the field on their next offensive possession they knew that they had to do something for this game was on the verge of getting out of hand. The Argos once again decided to focus more on the power running game lead by the speedy running back Isaiah Ashem-Hibbert and the power of fullback Gord Brown. Brown made a huge fourth down run that kept the Argos offense on the field. This run seemed to spark the Argos bench who needed some spark to get them excited. Charles hooked up with wide receiver Patrick Sanders on a twenty yard touchdown pass to get the Argos on the scoreboard. The Argos went for the two point conversion and was successful when Charles hit Rayshawn Smith for a short pass. The score was now 23-8
The Sturgeon took the field looking to expand their lead. However, the Argos defense forced a three and out and the Sturgeon had to punt the ball back to the Argos.
The Argos sensing that a momentum shift had happened looked to cut into the Sturgeon lead once again. A big third down conversion was made when Charles hit Smith for a fresh set of downs. It is worth noting that Smith proved to be a matchup nightmare for the Sturgeon for at 6’5 he was difficult to cover all game long, Smith has the size of a tight end but the speed of a wide receiver and he also has strong hands to add to the package. The Argos once again made a crucial mistake for the drive was cut short because of a holding penalty.
This made the halftime score 23-8 in favour of the Sturgeon.
The Sturgeon received the ball to start the second half and was unable to get their offense going and they were forced to punt the ball away. The Argos blocked the punt setting them up with great field position.
The Argos despite having some good offensive plays, especially by Ashem-Hibbert, fumbled the ball once again. The fumble was forced by Mason Kett of the Sturgeon and recovered by Easton Klaudi of the Sturgeon.
The Sturgeon offense was again sputtered and had to punt the ball away once again.
The Argos once again took the field on offense and knew they had to make a big play. The drive started off right with Brown running hard for forty yards. Charles also made a critical play when he scrambled around and picked up the first down on a third and long. However, sensing the Argos were going to score the Sturgeon defense stepped up and made a huge play stopping the Argos on a fourth and short.
The Sturgeon on the first play of their next offensive possession made a big twenty yard gain when Elsley decided to keep the ball on an option play; this brought an end to the third quarter. The Sturgeon moved the ball somewhat but once again was forced to punt the ball away.
The Argos started their drive in good field position due to a nice return by Ashem-Hibbert. The Argos looked to take advantage of the field position when Charles scrambled around once again and picked up thirty yards on the first play setting up a first down inside the ten yard line. This drive was the crucial drive of the game and one team needed to make a stand, the Sturgeon defense answered the call when Evin Ellwood made the stop for the defense on a fourth down for the Argos.
The Sturgeon managed to get out of the shadow of their own goal posts when Ramon Bustillo took the ball on a sweep and picked up twenty yards. The Sturgeon managed to milk some more time off the clock before being forced into punting the ball back to the Argos.
The Argos offense took the field one last time but was unable to score. It is worth noting that the game was cut short due to an injury that was sustained by a Sturgeon player. I am happy to report that although the injury appeared to be serious the player was fine and was walking around following the referees ending the game. Once again the final score saw the Sturgeon winning by a final count of 23-8.
The Sturgeon is off this week and this bye could not come at a better time for the Sturgeon who had several players who are banged up.
“We are going to heal our injuries up,” says the head coach of the Sturgeon Steve Belrose.
The Sturgeon is looking forward to their next game which will be at home on Friday July 6th at 8:00 when they take on the Chatham-Kent Cougars. All football players’ love playing under the lights and the excitement is kicked up notch when you get the chance to do this on a Friday night.
“Bring Chatham on we are ready,” concluded Belrose who knows that the game has huge playoff implications for his squad.
Overall the game was well played and it really was a tale of two halves, with the Sturgeon flying out of the gates and putting the Argos behind the eight ball. The Sturgeon took advantage of the mistakes that the Argos lead and opened to a lead that was just too much for the Argos to overcome despite outplaying the Sturgeon in the second half.
The Argos deserve a lot of credit for despite falling behind they never quit and tried to claw their way back into the game but they just could not do it.
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