Cougars Open With Wins
The Peewee and Bantam Chatham-Kent Cougars opened their 2013 OFC football season with wins this past weekend.
The Chatham-Kent Peewee Cougars took an exciting 42-36 come from behind victory against the Brantford Bisons.
Jonathan Cartier led the offense with 16 carries for 190 yards, 4 TDs and a 2 point convert. Cartier also had a 50 yard interception return for a touchdown. Cameron Creechan converted on 4 of 5 converts.
Lucas Doyle ran for 52 yards on 10 carries, while Ben Barnard had 7 carries for 25 yards and a TD. Julian Ferrell also picked up 20 yards on 6 runs. The offensive line was commended for their blocking and making running lanes for the backs.
The Peewee Cougars defense was led by Cameron Creechan who had 4 tackles and a fumble recovery. Connor Wright had 4 tackles, while Ethan Jordan, Cody Lunn, Evan Torres and Nakoma Scott each made 3 tackles in the win.
The Chatham-Kent Bantam Cougars officially opened their season on May 25th with a trip to Hamilton where they met the Hurricanes at McMaster University stadium. A beautiful sunny day made for football greeted the players as they walked into the impressive stadium to begin their game.
The Hurricanes opened with the ball and managed to march down field for the first score and convert of the game. A sweep right from 46 yards out allowed them to cross the goal line. Early game jitters and first year experience may have contributed to the Cougars opening drive as they were stopped and had to punt the ball away. The rest of the first quarter was a defensive battle on both sides as neither team was able to move the ball.
The second quarter began with a 25 yard run by Chris Vercauteren breaking tackles and finding his way to the end zone. Colin Hoorlebeck converted the point after for the score 7 – 7 early in the second. Both teams settled down on defence and did not allow any other scores in the first half.
The Cougars opened the second half by moving the ball down field only to turn it over on a fumble. The defense held strong and pinned the Hurricanes deep into their zone allowing the Cougars great field position, 1st and goal. Wyatt Barnes ran a QB keeper to the right and beat the Hurricanes defence to the cone for the Cougar second score of the game. Colin Hoorlebeck converted the point after to give the cougars a 14 – 7 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter play by the defence for the Cougars kept the Hurricanes off the score board for the rest of the game. David Nethersole had 2 interceptions, 9 tackles and 1 blocked pass to lead the defence. Austin McCready, Abeeku Paintsil, Dylan Foster and Brad Wild all had fumble recoveries for the other 4 turn overs of the game. The Cougars showed the Hurricanes their ability to pass early in the 4th as Wyatt Barnes hit Clay Van Erd on 2 consecutive plays for a total of 78 yards.