“It was very unexpected. It was definitely a hard week, not only for our family, but for the team as well,” said McGuire, “my dad loved the Ironmen and he loved these kids. And I know that they wanted to win this game for him.”
Win they did, in a convincing fashion at that. After trailing 6-0 off of the opening drive (Markham missed the conversion), spirits were low on the bench. All they needed was a little kick in the pants from defensive coordinator Andy Wishart to bring the energy back up to par.
“I remember watching them score on that opening drive, thinking to myself…dad’s up there laughing at me right now,” chuckled McGuire, “here we are dedicating this game to him and it couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. Andy was irate after that first series, he took the guys aside and had a little chat and after that it was just shutdown the rest of the way.”
While the defense played a near perfect game for Hamilton, the offense was no slouch either. Quarterback Liam Putt put together another good game, leading scoring drive after scoring drive, while the addition of Hamilton’s re-discovered running game kept the Raiders honest.
“All five of our running backs played great,” praised McGuire, “we’ve been trying to establish the running game because we know that we’re going to need it moving forward.”
The emergence of the running game is bad news for the other teams in the OVFL, Hamilton won their first 3 games relying heavily on Putt and the passing game, but having five capable backs on the depth chart is a luxury few teams can boast. However, the kicking game is another story entirely…
“Our kicker got hurt, so we had to have kids take turns kicking the converts to see who we could use as a replacement,” explained McGuire, “I told them they’re lucky it didn’t end up on YouTube, some of these kicks were just brutal.”
Turns out Hamilton didn’t need the converts anyways, but the team is hopeful that they’ll have Bellardini back kicking for them next week when the Ironmen head into London on Saturday to play the Mustangs. Despite the teams’ contrasting records, McGuire is not about to take London lightly.
“London may be 0-5, but I guarantee you that they’re the best 0-5 team that you’ll ever see,” he stated, “they’re probably one of the biggest teams that I’ve ever seen and they’ve got some good skill players, they always do in London. By no means will this be an easy game.”
The Ironmen wouldn’t have it any other way, the team seems to thrive under pressure and play their best ball when they’re backed up against the wall. They started down 6-0 against Markham, only to pile up 60 unanswered points. This was the kind of win they can hang their hat on, the kind of win that builds character moving forward, the kind of win that Bernie McGuire would’ve been proud of.
“I know my dad was up there watching. He used to videotape all the games,” his son happily recalled, “he loved the game of football and he really loved these kids.”
Bernie McGuire might not have been taping last Sunday’s game, he may not have physically been at Ron Joyce Stadium, but he was there in spirit…and I can guarantee he had a smile on his face.
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