Exhibition games a measuring stick for JV Sabercats

They’re a work in progress heading into the season opener next weekend, but there’s a lot to build on.

The Sault Sabercats junior varsity team wrapped up exhibition play on Saturday afternoon with a 48-0 victory over the North Bay Bulldogs at Superior Heights, the second exhibition win for the club after picking up a convincing win over their North Bay opponent in the Gateway City one week ago.

JV Sabercats head coach Jim Monico said avoiding a letdown after last week’s victory was a point of focus for the young team.

“The key this week was we preached intensity and not having a letdown after beating them 57-0 last week,” Monico said. “We did have a little bit of a letdown. I understand that it’s tough to keep that level of competition up. The first half, we were sluggish and a little bit sloppy. We made a lot of mistakes. In the second half, we cleaned up a little bit.”

With the exhibition contests behind them and regular season action on the horizon, Monico said the intensity level will be important as the competition improves in their opponents.

“The competition level is going to step up, so we’re not going to be able to get away with not being intense, not being ready, and making mistakes,” Monico said. “We really have to bear down in that regard.”

Nate Carter caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Matti Tucker to lead the Sabercats offence.

Carter caught 10 passes for 140 yards, including touchdown catches of 23 and 55 yards.

Tucker threw for 169 yards in the win, completing 17 of 28 passes in the game.

The Sabercats also had four rushing touchdowns on the day as Jarrett Dewar ran for a one-yard major, while Nathan Guizzetti scampered in from 13 yards out, Spencer Headrick ran in from one yard out, and Brayden Luzzi had a 19-yard touchdown run.

Kaylob Thibodeau had 44 yards rushing on six carries. Guizzetti ran for 28 yards on three carries, and Luzzi had 20 yards rushing on a pair of carries.

On the defensive side of the ball, Isaiah Kehoe had a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown for the home side.

Darion Pucci had eight tackles for the Sabercats, while Ethan Carchidi had seven and a fumble recovery.

Hunter Dickinson had an interception for the locals, while Jack Metcalfe had a pair of fumble recoveries.

Jacob Hummell had five tackles, while Fredette Gideon had 4.5 for North Bay.

Despite being critical of his own team, the veteran coach noted that, after a convincing win in North Bay last weekend, the Sabercats saw an improved Bulldogs effort in Saturday’s game.

“I do want to give a lot of credit to North Bay,” Monico said. “They really improved. They played a lot better, a lot stronger game compared to last week.”

Monico added that the exhibition games were important “to see where we’re at.”

“We have a lot of talent,” Monico said. “Getting guys into running our systems is very important, and we accomplished what we wanted to in that regard in the two games.”

The JV Sabercats are on the road to open the Ontario Summer Football League regular season as the team heads to Brantford to take on the Bisons.