JV Sabercats looking to improve heading on road

There are parts of their game they still want to clean up.

The Sault Sabercats junior varsity team picked up a 36-8 victory over the Hamilton Hurricanes in Ontario Football Conference action at Superior Heights on Saturday afternoon. 

It was a game that Coach Jim Monico said he was happy with the result and the effort but soe aspects of the Sabercats game was lacking. 

“I thought we could be a little more intense and a little more discipline and that’s the stuff I preached all week,” Monico said. “At times, we lost our discipline and at times we weren’t intense.

The start was ideal for the Sabercats. After kicking off, Seth Rouball recovered a fumble on Hamilton’s first play from scrimmage. The home side proceeded to jump out to the lead on a 30-yard pass play from quarterback Tyler Brechin to Dylan Forsyth for the early major.

Pleased with the start, Monico spoke of leaving points on the board at times in the game.

“We decided to start changing things that we did and stopped punting to create more plays and that worked,” Monico said.

Nick Pagnotta would punch the ball in from 21 yards out to put the Sabercats ahead 14-0 just under five minutes into the second quarter.

On a third and long play, Hamilton’s Nickolas Kopacek fumbled the ball near the Sabercats 10-yard line to turn it over with just over two minutes to play in the opening half. 

Pagnotta would then hit Brechin for a 45-yard gain to put the ball on the Hamilton 12. The next play would see Pagnotta punch the ball with 6.4 seconds to go in the half to make it 21-0 going into the half. 

Brechin would make it 28-0 on a five-yard run late in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Tristan O’Flynn scored on a seven-yard run. A two-point convert would make the score 36-0.

Alex Samontry would get Hamilton on the board midway through the fourth quarter on a long pass from quarterback Stephen Narancic. Samontry would then score on a two-point convert to make it 36-8.

Defensively for the Sabercats, Michael Nicoletta had five tackled and three assisted tackles. Ryan Barnes had three solo tackles and three more assisted tackles. Rouball and Tyler Greco had three solo tackles each.

The team now prepares for three consecutive games on the road, beginning next weekend.

The Sabercats will take a 2-1 record on the road as they head to Brantford on June 23 to take on the Bisons.