Undisciplined Sabercats fall to Halton

Plagued by the tendency to take bad penalties, the Sault Sabercats dropped their second straight game on Saturday afternoon.

Flagged for 190 yards in penalties, the Sabercats were unable to gain any momentum or field position in a 30-22 loss to the Halton Invictas at Rocky DiPietro Field.

With the loss, the Sabercats fall to 2-4 in the Ontario Varsity Football League and have been all but eliminated from the playoff picture with two games remaining on the road.

While the Sabercats were able to make a late comeback, the game was virtually over by halftime as Halton walked into the dressing room with a 24-7 lead. In all, the locals gained 320 yards offensively but driven back constantly by foolish penalties.

"We need to learn how to control ourselves and not retaliate but that has been the story of the year," said Sabercats head coach Ross Viotto. "Penalties killed us again. We do something foolish like pick up a block from behind on the opposite side of the field on a return and it brings the whole team.

"It hurts the team, our field position and the guy who gets a nice return called back. I hope the guys who are coming back learn from this. I don't know how many times we have to yell at guys to shut up and get back in huddle. We need to learn discipline and start fresh."

The Sabercats opened the scoring late in the first quarter as quarterback Ryan Maunu hooked up with Dan Swystun for a 67 pass and run touchdown.

But Halton stormed back with a touchdown on the next play from scrimmage to tie the game 7-7 after the first quarter. Halton would add a pair of touchdowns and a field goal before the break.

Halton built their lead in the third quarter on two more field goals from kicker Warren Kean. Jordan Pavelcic scored two majors for Halton.

The Sabercats closed the scoring in the fourth quarter as Matt Premo caught a 13-yard touchdown pass and Mark Palombi scored on an 8 yard run. Swystun converted two touchdowns while Noah Rushon caught a two-point convert.

Palombi led the Sault rushing attack with 98 yards on 17 carries. Quarterback Ryan Maunu completed 12 of 31 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Premo had a huge game at receiver, catching eight passes for 105 yards. Dan Swystun caught two passes for 56 yards.

Defensively, Dan Kennedy led the team with seven tackles while Adam Day added six and Gavin Cond 5.5. Ron Kelly recorded an interception from the secondary.

"We have to go out there and finish the season with class and finish strong to build for next year," said Viotto.

The OVFL will have a bye this week for Team Ontario. The Sault will finish the season in Brantford on July 19 and Hamilton on July 26. The Sabercats' Ian Hazlett, who was ejected for three unnecessary roughness penalties against Halton, is a linebacker on Team Ontario.