OVFL: Varsity Ironmen weather the storm and the Grenadiers to stay perfect

The game originally scheduled for Sunday evening was called on lightning with just over a minute to play in the first half and with the Ironmen leading 14-6. The rest of the game was rescheduled for Thursday night. Not much scoring was done in the second half but Hamilton held on for the 18-9 win to finish the season a perfect 8-0 and lock up the first round bye.

While head coach Rob Underhill is happy with the position his team is currently in, he was not happy with the number of penalties that they took in their final regular season game.

“There were tons of penalties called in that game, more so on our side,” Underhill remarked, “some of them were a little ridiculous. I addressed the team about playing focused and how to properly conduct themselves. If we play the way we did last week against Kingston in the playoffs, we’re going to be looking at a very early playoff exit.”

With not much in the ways of offence for either team, the game’s biggest yardage seemed to come attached to penalty flags. Despite first half touchdown passes to Nathan Brown and Daniel Petermann, Alex Hill was not his usually sharp self and the offence seemed to stall with the rain delay.

“Offensively, Hill was unable to find a rhythm,” said Underhill, “we played a very vanilla offence, so that might have been a factor. We have some things that we’ve been saving for the playoffs, so we were careful not to show our hand.”

While Hill and the offence struggled, the defence picked up the slack, limiting the Grenadiers’ offence to just a field goal in the second half. However Underhill preached execution after the game and wants to see his defence make the most of turnover opportunities in the playoffs.

“Anthony Trabucco and Anthony Pizzuti played well and each had an interception for us on defence,” he said, “but we also had about 3 interceptions dropped. Our guys need to haul those in when they have the ball in their hands.”

While the kicking game was solid once again for the Ironmen, Underhill is still hopeful that star linebacker/kicker Domenic Bellardini will be back in time for the playoffs.

“Trabucco did an excellent job filling in at kicker for Domenic while he’s been out,” praised Underhill, “but obviously we’d really like to have him back next week. We miss him at linebacker more than anything.”

Bellardini isn’t the only player on the roster who could do with an extra day off. Defensive lineman Matt Jackson is also banged up and Underhill listed him as hopeful to return for Hamilton’s first playoff game.

While the bye week is always a nice luxury, Underhill is well aware of the cons it can provide.

“Well it would have been nice had the game not been rained out. We practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we had to play Thursday,” he stated, “so we didn’t really get the extra week of practice we were hoping for. However the bye week is always good for guys nursing injuries to get healthy. Then it’s up to us to execute. The last I want is to come out flat from the bye.”

The Ironmen (8-0) will have the week to prepare before they’re back on the field Sunday afternoon to take on the Sault Ste Marie Sabrecats (6-3) at home in the friendly confines of Ron Joyce Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 2:00pm.

*The Hamilton Ironmen would like to congratulate QB Kyle Van Wynsberghe, WR Daniel Petermann, OL Chris Doucette and DB Rob White for winning a bronze medal for Team Ontario West in the Under 18 Football Canada Cup.

Ontario West beat out a strong Saskatchewan squad to take home the bronze on the whim of a very convincing 44-10 win. Congratulations guys!