The JV Spartans improved their record over the weekend, with their first win in the OPFL, to 1-1 after facing off against the North Bay Bulldogs, of which they won 28-14. Despite a strong running game from the North Bay running back Fisher Bilz and a good showing by their defence, they would ultimately fall to a well-rounded showing from the Spartans’ offence and an even stronger defence.

The JV Spartans got off to a quick start as they recovered a fumble off the very first kick-off which led to an ensuing drive that put the JV Spartans up 7-0 thanks to Devin Zloty and Zack Primeau.

On North Bay’s first drive, Bliz got to work, taking many hand-offs and gaining on almost every run. When they went away from the hand-off, they saw some difficulty, which lead to the Spartans getting the ball back.

After some more good back and forth from both teams the quarter ended 7-0 in favour of the JV Spartans.

Picking up halfway into the 2nd quarter, after the Bulldogs forced a punt, Bliz scored a touchdown. The extra point was good to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:04 left in the half.

On the next drive, Zloty using Josh Morin, Primeau, and Black Ramalho, threw the ball for consecutive catches. Ramalho was the last of the drive, catching the ball in the endzone. The following kick was blocked this time leaving the score at 13-7 for the JV Spartans.

The defence quickly shut down the following Bulldogs’ drive and got the ball back to the offence deep in the North Bay territory.

Primeau, who was now sporting number 8 due to a torn jersey, caught the first pass of the drive, evaded a couple tackles, and ran it into the endzone. This time number 16 Cameron Moxam made sure his kick got through, leading to a halftime score of 20-7 for Sudbury.

The second half was scoreless until late in the third, when number 42 Daniel Labelle of the JV Spartans recovered a botched punt by the Bulldogs, putting them in great field position. Taking over for Zloty in the second half was number 6 Michael Reich. After a hand-off to Josh Giroux, Reich on a scrambled run got the ball into the endzone. The kick was good putting Sudbury up 27-7 with a little under 3 minutes in the 3rd.

On the previous play the Bulldogs received a 35-yard penalty which was applied to the kick-off. This put the Sudbury kick-off within range to kick the ball through the endzone for an extra point, which they took full advantage of. Making it 28-7.

The game continued to be a back and forth affair, with North Bay putting together a good drive towards the end of the 4th and scoring to put them up to 14 points. However, it was not enough, and the game ended in favor of the JV Spartans 28-14.

With a record now of 1-1 the JV Spartans look to continue their strong play on the road. They will be away for the next 3 weeks as they face off against North Halton on the 8th, Toronto on the 15th, and Woodstock on the 22nd. Their next home game will be on June 29th, where they will host Clarington at 1pm at James Jerome.