Sabercats can't shake Lambton curse (updated)

SARNIA -- No matter how well the Sault Sabercats play, they can't seem to get past the Lambton Lions.

The Sabercats opened the 2004 Ontario Varsity Football League regular season here on Friday night at Norm Perry Park in Sarnia with a 22-14 loss to the Lions.

Despite playing well enough to win, the Lions took advantage of some mistakes and fatigue to score the late game win. It was the Lions' third win against the Sault in as many seasons.

Quarterback Ryan Maunu had the Sabercats offense clicking early with a potent aerial attack distributed to several different receivers. Maunu completed the opening drive with a one yard plunge into the end zone for a touchdown.

After completing 138 yards passing on seven completions in nine attempts, Maunu left the game 45 seconds into the second quarter when he appeared to extend his knee after taking a hit following a 41 yard completion to Noah Rushon.

"That hurt when Ryan went down. He was having a great game and moving the ball around well and his mobility is the key. I think we missed that in the second half with their defense but that's not to take anything away from Anthony Amadio, who played a good game," said Sabercats head coach Ross Viotto.

Lambton closed the first half scoring with a 27 yard field goal from Graham Curran.

In the second half, Joe Mason opened the scoring on a three yard run to put the Lions ahead 10-7.

But the Sabercats answered back as Jon Day hauled in a 22 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Anthony Amadio to regain the lead at 14-10. Matt Gauthier kicked both Sabercat converts.

In the fourth quarter with several Sault players playing both offense and defense, the Lions took advantage of the tiring locals with a 46 yard touchdown pass from Pat Wright to Steve Archer to take a 16-14 lead 4:36 into the quarter.

The Lions salted the game late when Mason ran 40 yards for a touchdown after the Sabercats turned the ball over on downs with 3:24 remaining.

"There were a lot of little mistakes that hurt us throughout the game like procedures and dropped balls but that's something we need to cleanup this week. It will be nice to get the players back from track and field and get everyone together for next week," said Viotto.

"This is one we should have won and it's unfortunate but we have to move forward."

The score could have been much closer as the Sabercats had a chance earlier in the game to score from the one yard line but the Sabercats were not awarded a touchdown on close play at the goal line and then the Lions forced and recovered a fumble.

The Sabercats played the game without several veteran players as most were attending the NOSSA track and field championships in North Bay.

Those missing from the lineup included linebacker/punter Dan Kennedy, offensive lineman Matt Cook, defensive linemen Kevin Nanne and Tyson Vanderloo, running back Kayvon Fatemizadeh along with defensive backs Brian McAndrew and Mark Palumbo.

Amadio completed six of 16 attempts for 66 yards while the offense could only muster 75 yards rushing against Lambton's blitzing defense. Day led the receiving corps with four catches for 79 yards, Rushon caught three passes for 75 yards.

Defensively, Gauthier led the defense with seven tackles and a sack. Mark Palombi, in what will be his only game of the season, added 7.5 tackles from the linebacker spot while Day and Ryan Mallette added five each.

Kurt Morrison, who had a 55 yard interception return, made four tackles while Day also collected an interception.

"Defensively we played great. We had a lot of guys going both ways and it caught up to us in the fourth quarter," said Viotto.

The game was the first of three consecutive road games to open the season for the Sabercats. The team will head to Hamilton on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest at Ivor Wynne Stadium followed by a game on June 13 in Brantford.

The locals return for their home opener on June 19 at 7 p.m. against the Cambridge Lions.