OVFL: JV Ironmen hold off late surge for a win against London

“I told the guys that they’d be the toughest 0-5 team they’ve ever played and they definitely were,” said McGuire.

Hamilton’s offense got going early, and were poised to head into the locker room with a 14-0 lead. The Mustangs, however, had other plans. London burned the Ironmen defense on a 60-yard touchdown pass with five seconds remaining in the half.

While the late score was certainly disheartening, Hamilton made adjustments at the half and came out with a purpose. The offense turned it on in the second half putting up 20 unanswered points to take a 34-7 lead. The Mustangs made a late push, galloping all the way back to within a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but while Hamilton’s defense bent, they didn’t break as they held on to close out London.

“We had a lot of our backups in for the fourth quarter,” recalled McGuire, “they gave us a scare there, but they made plays when it mattered.”

Liam Putt was on target all game, putting up big numbers in the passing game, finding receiver Donta Smith for 2 touchdowns, while Hamilton’s steady running game was a factor once again. Starting running back Brandan Gamble left early in the game with a minor thigh injury, but Hamilton’s depth at running back did more than their share picking up the slack.

Defensively, middle linebacker Ben Pascoe had another standout game, while defensive back Angelo Del Sordo had another interception for Hamilton.

“Del Sordo’s been having a great year for us,” praised his coach, “he’s developing into a real shutdown corner.”

With the win Hamilton has all but secured a playoff spot and headed into the bye week with an impressive 5-1 record. McGuire is using the next two games to try new plays and formations out while he gets his team ready for the post-season.

“We know that Mississauga’s a real good team, a team that we’ll probably have to face again in the playoffs at some point,” predicted McGuire, “we’re going to try to grind out the clock and keep it close. We’ve been running a lot of plays out of the shotgun for the majority of the season, so we want to try to bring Liam under center more, give them some different looks. I think we can hit some big plays, we’re excited for the opportunity.”

While it still remains to be seen who Hamilton will be playing once the OVFL post-season gets underway, McGuire feels that his team can only benefit from playing their last two games of the regular season against two strong clubs in Mississauga and Kingston.

“Our last two games are against the top two teams in the OVFL,” he stated, “we’re going to use this next game against Mississauga to try some different things. We’ve learned in the past, that it doesn’t matter if you beat them in the regular season, they’ll still get you in the playoffs.”

It looks as if Hamilton’s going to have to learn how to beat Missiauga in the playoffs, because chances are Week 8 is not the last time they’ll do battle with the Warriors. Until then Coach McGuire is happy with where his team is and feels confident that they’re in good shape moving forward.

“We’ve reached a goal that we wanted to accomplish, which was making the playoffs,” he said, “we’re in a perfect spot. We’re very happy to be where we are right now.”

Kicker Anthony Bellardini was back in the lineup for the Ironmen after missing last week’s game against Markham. Hamilton will be visiting Mississauga on Saturday July 14^th to take on the Warriors in what could be an excellent post-season preview. Gametime is scheduled for 8:00pm.