The Burlington Stampeders ran their record to four and zero after holding on for the victory against the visiting Twin Cities Predators. The back and fourth, field position battle, 3-down football affair saw many standout performances on both squads.

The first quarter was a ‘feeling out’ process for both teams. An early sack by the Predators Connor MacKay thwarted a positive Stampeder early drive. The Preds’ capitalized on a poor punt by the Stampeders and turned it into a short field goal (that actually looked wide) by Ronnie Pfeffer (Laurier commit). The Predators maintained the lead when they caused a turnover on downs, deep in their own end. The Stamps’ begin to carry the field position battle after a sack by Matt Delmas and a short Pfeffer punt gave the home team the ball on the Preds’ 36 yard line. Again, the Preds’ defense was up to the task and held the hometeam off the scoreboard.

The second quarter began the same way the first ended, with the Stamps’ carrying the field advantage, but this time they capitalized. A touchdown pass from QB Will Finch to Wes Livermore put the hometeam up 7 to 3 after Livermore converted his own touchdown.

Late in the 2nd quarter the Stampeders put together a nice drive, aided by Predator penalties. The drive ended in a Josh Vandeweerd touchdown reception with 25 seconds remaining in the half.

The third quarter saw the Stampeders carry the play but not put any points on the board to show for it. Credit should be given to the Predator defense, who had a plan, and executed it admirably. An end zone touchdown by Predators Brandon Seip thwarted a mid quarter Stampeder drive.

The Stampeders put together an impressive drive that began in the 3rd quarter but carried through to the 4th. A big corner pass reception, QB scramble, 1st down run, then fade TD pass to Doug Corby (33 yards) capped off the drive and put the hometeam up 21 to 3 early in the quarter.

Not showing any quit (just continual complaining of the officiating) the Predators mounted a touchdown drive, aided by a no yards and roughing penalty on the change of possession which saw the Preds’ start their possession on the Stampeder 39 yard line. On the first play of the drive an apparent touchdown went through the hands of the receiver. A 2nd play of 9 yards and 3rd play of 2 (QB sneak) gave the Preds a first down. Next play #80 Brandon Nickel caught a James Fracas (Laurier commit) 25 yard touchdown pass to put the Predators’ down 21 to 11 after the visitors completed a 2 point convert pass to Connor Lanteigne.

The Stampeders responded on the next offensive series with a great drive of their own. QB Will Finch used his legs and arm on the drive, scrambling twice for a first down and throwing a 35 yard fade to Doug Corby (the Preds’ corner may want to adjust his 5-7 yard inside shade for next game). The Stampeders were first and goal on the 1 yard line but LB Andrew McWhinney (who we think was the defensive player of the game) stopped the hometeam on the first run attempt. The 2nd down saw the Stampeders score a touchdown only to be negated by a holding call. The Stamps’ settled for a 20 yard Livermore field goal and went up 24 to 11 with 3:44 remaining in the game.

On the next Predator possession the offense completed the first pass for a first down to Cody Tapsell (Waterloo commit). After an incompletion and a sack, the Preds’ faced 3rd and 22 but went for the first down only to have the ball picked off by Tanner Philp. The Stamps’ went conservative on offense and the result was a 2 and out.

On the next Predator offensive series the hilite of the game occurred. QB James Fracas, after dropping back to pass, scrambled for 59 yards for a TD. Another poorly defended 2 point convert (this time to Brandon Nickel) put the score at 24 to 19 with 22 seconds remaining. The Predators attempted an onside kick but the Stampeders recovered the ball and ran out the clock on offense.

Look for these two teams to meet again, possibly in the championship game. Health and how much they improve between now and then will go a long way in determining who carries the trophy home…and of course not looking past any other opponents.

CIS Scouts:

McMaster – Brian Brock, Ryan Loveday
Queens – Pat Sheahan, Ryan Sheahan, Dan Brannagan Sr., Lorne Milsap
Wilfrid Laurier – Dave Morrisey
Guelph – Bill Brown, Mike MacDonald

Players to Watch:

Twin Cities
LB Andrew McWhinney
REC Theshawn Barry
REC Cody Tapsell
K Ronnie Pfeffer
QB James Fracas – picture
OL Cam Wilhelm
DL Hakeem Thompson
OL Greg Bolger

Burlington
QB Will Finch
REC Wes Livermore
REC Doug Corby
REC Josh Vandeweerd
DB Jack Gatza
OL Mikhail Joukov
OL Greg Coffin
OL Nicholas Firlit
DE Karl Prud’homme
LB Luke McQuikin