Sabercats looking to pounce on Ravens

The Sault Sabercats long awaited home opener has arrived and the challenge will be the toughest one they'll face.

The Essex Ravens come to town on Saturday night as defending Ontario Varsity Football League champions and the current number one ranked team this season. Game time is 7 p.m. at Rocky DiPietro Field.

The game will mark the first of four consecutive home contests for the Sabercats, who enter the game with a 1-1 record.

"We 're playing the defending champs but our guys are up for it and know what they're up against. We will be ready for the challenge," said Sabercats head coach Ross Viotto.

The Sabercats enjoyed a bye last week, which gave the team the opportunity to prepare for Essex and heal some injuries after a hard-hitting game on artificial turf in London two weeks ago.

"The bye allowed us to study Essex and what they have to offer, it allowed some of our kids to catch up on school work and it helped heal some injuries," said Viotto.

Essex is a team that features a fierce running attack, which sets up a stellar passing attack. Defensively, Essex's strength is their run defense but Viotto plans to run the ball at them to setup their emerging passing game.

"Defense is their pride and joy. Their head coach is their defensive coordinator and they bring everything at you," said Viotto, who began his OVFL coaching career as an assistant with Essex.

"They play a 3-5 defense and they don't want you to run the ball but we're going to try and run against them and set up our play action pass off that."

*** MINOR FOOTBALL:

The Soo Minor Football Association begins their seventh year of play on Sunday with four games on the Queen Elizabeth B Field beginning at 10 a.m. The league features nine teams separated into the tyke and bantam divisions.