Lack of rhythm, mistakes costly for JV Sabercats

He’s always had faith in his team.

A season in which they had high hopes ended for the Sault Sabercats junior varsity team on Saturday afternoon following a 27-19 Ontario Summer Football League playoff loss to the Brantford Bisons at Superior Heights.

Sabercats coach Jim Monico said following the loss that the team had an opportunity to make some noise this season.

“We could have been such a good team,” Monico said. “We had a lot of talent, we had a lot of pieces, but we just never got there.”

“We just never got to our potential,” Monico added. “We had a chance to be a really good team, and we just never quite got there.”

Asked about Saturday’s loss, Monico said that mistakes and an inability to get into a rhythm proved fatal.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Monico said. “We made a lot of mistakes and never really got into the flow of the game. They made plays when they had to, and we didn’t make them when we had to. Some guys stepped up and had good games, but I’m just disappointed. We never got into a rhythm and never got going where we wanted to go, and it shows on the scoreboard.”

Monico credited the Bisons for being the better club in Saturday’s contest, adding that he was still confident in the ability of his club.

“(Going in), we felt we were the better team, and I still think that,” Monico said. “Today, they were better than us, but I think if we played them a couple more times, we’re the better team, but those words mean nothing because, when the chips were down, they beat us.”

A penalty-filled game, Monico said the number of them made it tough to find a flow in the game, though he didn't take issue with the penalties themselves.

“It was tough,” Monico said. “There were a lot of penalties, and it really interrupted the flow, but they played through it, and we didn’t play as well through it as well as they did.”

After the game remained scoreless through much of the opening quarter, the Sabercats got on the board first thanks to a two-yard touchdown run by Kaylob Thibodeau with just over two minutes to go in the quarter.

Just under four minutes into the second quarter, the Bisons tied the game at six thanks to a one-yard touchdown run by Ben Spangenberger.

The Sabercats retook the lead with 5:23 to go in the half when Thibodeau got his second major of the day on a two-yard run. Coupled with the convert by Nate Carter, the Sabercats held a 13-6 lead.

A three-yard touchdown run by Sam Cavan coupled with a convert by Ryan Harrison tied the game back up late in the half.

Brantford took a 14-13 lead into the half after a rouge on a missed field goal attempt by Harrison with 36.6 seconds to go in the second quarter.

After recovering an onside kick early in the third quarter, the Bisons took a 21-13 lead on a six-yard touchdown catch by Carter Hogg and convert by Harrison.

As time ran out in the third quarter, the Sabercats pulled to within two after a 34-yard touchdown catch by Nate Carter.

With 5:16 to go in regulation, Brantford extended the lead to 27-19 thanks to a 47-yard touchdown run by Gabriel Hamilton.

Sabercats quarterback Matti Tucker finished the day with 195 yards passing on 12 completions.

Carter caught six passes for 102 yards to lead the Sault receiving corps.

Thibodeau ran for 29 yards on six carries, and Jarett Dewar had 36 rushing yards on nine carries.

Defensively, Ethan Carchidi had 8.5 tackles.

In addition to the touchdown run, Spangenberger completed 22 pass attempts for 216 yards for Brantford in the victory.

Hogg caught four passes for 59 yards while Zagham Syed caught five for 49 yards for the Bisons.

The passing yardage for the Bisons saw eight receivers catch at least one pass in the victory.

On the defensive side of the ball, Zander Rivers had 9.5 tackles.