The Spartans headed on the road this past weekend to visit the Steel City Patriots where they dropped their first game of the season to set their record at 3-1. In a hard-fought game against the Patriots in Hamilton, that ended 34-14 for the Patriots, the Spartans’ roster put up a good fight, despite being down some crucial players that couldn’t make the trip.

The Spartans opened the scoring halfway through the 1st quarter after QB Hunter Holub connected with Josh Duckett on a 42-yard passing play for a touchdown. The patriots then followed up quickly, scoring on their next possession on their own 35-yard passing play with 3 minutes left in the game. Those three minutes went without scoring, leaving the game tied at 7 going into the 2nd quarter.

A minute into the 2nd quarter, after driving to good field position, the Patriots scored on another passing play, this time right into the end-zone. The extra point was good to make it 14-7 for the Patriots. The Spartans followed with a good drive but were forced to punt on a 4thdown. Hamilton took the ball downfield, with 6.1 seconds left in the half, and attempted a field goal to increase their lead by 3 leaving the score at half time 17-7 for the Patriots.

The Patriots went on to score 2 more touchdowns and added a field goal to put the score at 34-7 with 6 minutes left in the game. The Spartans put up 1 more touchdown of their own, courtesy of Josh Cuomo and his offensive-line, with 10 seconds left in the game, ultimately leaving the score at 34-14 for the Steel City Patriots.

After this tough loss, the Spartans are looking towards their next game against the Soo Steelers here at home at the James Jerome Complex on June 22nd. The two teams have already faced each other in a close bout where the Spartans came out on top 8-6. This game is sure to be a good one, so make sure you don’t miss it, kick-off is at 7pm.