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After finishing the Ontario Summer Football League regular season with a solid defensive performance, the Sault Sabercats junior varsity team opened the playoffs with a similar performance on Saturday.
Opening the Dan Grossi Memorial Cup bracket Saturday afternoon, the Sabercats jumped out to a lead early on and held the Brantford Bisons to one score in a 26-7 victory at Superior Heights.
“We suffocated the whole of their offensive game and really forced them to run inside with their big back and slow the game down for us,” Sabercats coach Will Basawa said. “It chewed up a lot of time on the clock as well.”
Offensively, the game was one in which Basawa felt his team could have been better at times.
“We operated really good today,” Basawa said. “I think we left some points on the board with some missed passes and some areas of communication, but we held them to seven points. That’s a really strong running team, so to be able to do that shows we’re in good shape.”
On their opening drive, the Sabercats move the ball to the Bisons four. The locals ultimately settled for a 22-yard field goal by A.J. Coccimiglio on the series to take a 3-0 lead just under four minutes into the contest.
The Sabercats extended the lead thanks to a one-yard touchdown pass by Zayne Murdoch to Drayden Brock. The convert by Coccimiglio made it a 10-0 game.
In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Brantford conceded a safety to make the score 12-0 for the home side.
The Sabercats took a 19-0 lead into the half thanks to a six-yard touchdown pass by Murdoch to Brock and the convert on the play from Coccimiglio in the final minute of the half.
Brantford got on the board midway through the third quarter on a short touchdown pass deep in Sabercats territory. The convert made the score 19-7.
Payton Melchiorre added to the Sabercats score late in the third quarter as he ran the ball in from three yards out. The convert by Coccimiglio made it a 26-7 game.
Individual stats for the game were not available.
With the win, the JV Sabercats move on to host a second round playoff game next weekend at Superior Heights. Their opponent will be the winner of a game between the Brampton Bulldogs and the North Bay Bulldogs in Brampton.