The wind, rain, cold and hostile territory made for a tough environment for the Braves in Montreal facing the St Leonard Cougars on Saturday October 1. The Cougars defence made it even more difficult. They scored first in the first quarter and led 19-7 at the half with 220 yards production from the offence. The Braves rallied back in the second half with an increase in their offensive yards from 37 to 162 and a dramatic reduction of penalties But it wasnβt enough points on the board at the buzzer. The final score was 35-15 for the Cougars.
The Braves scoring came on a pass from Spagnuolo to Jake Pearsall which was set up by his brother, Luke Pearsallβs interception and 45-yard return to the 15-yard line. Ryan Lambert made good on the convert. Later in the game on a Bravesβ drive Matt Scott made a great TD catch from QB Michael Hendrych. A safety gave the Braves another two points in the fourth quarter.
QB Lucas Spagnuolo was the leading rusher for the Braves with most of his yards coming from scrambles from the pocket and in relief QB Hendrych helped with a number of completions including a TD pass.
” We came out a bit flat in the 1st half and couldnβt match the home teamβs intensity and subsequently put ourselves in a hole, as always we get great effort from a number of players that refused to let the bad weather effect their intensityβ
Eddie Charles and Brendan Cronin each contributed five tackles, Charles had 24 yards on punt returns. Richard Beckstead forced a fumble and recovered it. Dylan Coo and Shane Smiley added another four tackles each. The St Leonard quarterback was sacked four times courtesy of Terry Ayeni, Jared Ferencik, Dragan Kunac and Steve Connery. JA Erroa had a big game for the Cougars with four tackles, a sack, forced fumble, and recovery along with a block kick earning defensive player of the week honors. St Leonard running back Manuel Crisi Lauzon carried 18 times for 150 yards scoring three majors, good for offensive player of the week.
The loss means that the next two games are βmust winsβ for the Braves. The final home game, October 16, against Ottawa Sooners may be to decide the final playoff spot.
Next Saturday the Braves travel to Kitchener-Waterloo to face the newest entry into the Ontario Football Conference junior division, the Twin Cities Predators. Fans who make the trip can take a non-perishable food to get half-price admission.
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