OVFL: Wildcats are led by Jack Vernon and Jordan Berger in victory over Eagles (Peewee)

Metro Toronto Wildcats peewee team traveled to Etobicoke to face the hometown Eagles an early 9am match up Sunday. The Wildcats entered the game with a 2 and 0 record and the Eagles had a one and one record (winning one game by default).

The game was characterised early by penalties and injuries. This caused minimal flow to the game and some back and forth action. The first play of the second quarter saw the Wildcats go for a 4th and 5 play. They made the first down and seemed to be carrying the momentum needed to score the games first points. A few plays later the Eagles Jesse Emankwaa had a big sack which took the Wildcats out of scoring position and forced them to punt a couple plays later.

The punt was exceptional and forced the Eagles to scrimmage on their own 5 yard line. The ensuing series was ‘weird’ to say the least. Penalties on both teams, including a time count on 3rd down which forced the Eagles to lose the down because it was under 3 minutes to play in the half. A few plays before it looked like a safety was given up by the Eagles, but for some reason it was not. Regardless the Eagles were forced to punt and the Wildcats Ray Martinez returned the ball deep to the Eagles 11 yard line. A few plays later QB Jack Vernon punched the ball in from the one yard line and put the visitors up 6 to 0 after an unsuccessful convert attempt at 1:17.

The Eagles were unsuccessful on their next drive and were forced to punt the ball. The Wildcats returned the punt over half and scrimmage with 23 seconds remaining. With 15 seconds left Vernon hooked up for a big pass catch to Esson Hamilton. On the very next play Vernon hit Blair Oelke down to the one yard line. With only time for one more play Vernon again punched it i from the one yard line. The Wildcats went for 2-points on the convert, and Vernon again kept the ball, this time on a naked bootleg, putting the Wildcats up 14 to 0 at half.

The second half went much the same as the first as the Eagles held in for 1 1/2 quarters and then the Wildcats began to wear the Eagles down and scored a couple more times. Late in the 3rd quarter Wildcat running back Jordan Berger (picture) ran in his first of the day. Jack Hopkins converted the try and made the score 21 to 0. The teams traded fourth quarter fumbles and Berger looked like he scored on a brilliant 62 yard effort only to have 2 flags bring the play back. The Wildcats finished the scoring when Ray Martinez scored on a pass from 2nd half QB Cole Macfarlane. Final score 28 to 0.

Players to Watch:

Metro Toronto
Jack Vernon QB
Jordan Berger RB
Jack Hopkins TE/DE
Amir Zeisler OL/DL

Etobicoke
Yanni Taxidis LB
Malik Ugwuala RB
Matt McKelvey FB/DE
Jesse Emankwaa DL

Picture courtesy:
[url]http://www.torontowildcats.com/