Sabercats split at home (8 photos)

The Sault Sabercats continued play in the Ontario Football Conference Saturday, earning a split in week two action.

For the Junior Varsity Sabercats, Saturday’s home game was a stark contrast from the season opener one week earlier.

After a lopsided loss to the Peterborough Wolverines last weekend, the JV Sabercats came back with a 48-8 win over the Stallions Saturday afternoon at Superior Heights.

“It was a hard-working effort and the kids were fired up,” said JV Sabercats Coach Steve Nott. “A lot of them were embarrassed by what happened last week.”

Mitchell DellaVedova had five touchdowns for the Sabercats, including four rushing and a 67-yard catch for a major. DellaVedova ran the ball for 206 yards on 13 carries, which included touchdown runs of 25, 56, 69 and 80 yards.

Nick Pagnotta had 97 yards rushing on six carries.

Marc Aceti caught a 55-yard touchdown pass while Matthew Jackson caught an eight-yard touchdown pass.

Quarterback Jordan Robinson-Wright finished the day with 308 passing yards.

Nott would say that the team is still a “work in progress” but went on to say “the effort was there and the execution was better.”

“Every kid is excited that it’s coming. There’s something to work with and we’re on our way to big things,” Nott added.

For the Sabercats varsity team, it was a game that was close until late in the contest as Huronia scored a late touchdown to beat the Sabercats 23-15.

Sabercats Coach Jamie Antonello, who handled the coaching duties in place of Matt Premo, who missed the game due to a personal commitment, said the team struggled to move the ball consistently.

“We had a game plan going in, eat the clock on offence, run the ball, go with a short game with (quarterback Ryan) Yost, and let our defence control the field position,” Antonello said, saying the team struggled moving the ball offensively aside from one drive, a drive that led to a touchdown in the second half.

Yost ran the ball 11 times for 66 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Yost’s touchdown runs came from five and 18 yards out. He finished the day completing nine of 25 pass attempts while throwing a pair of interceptions.

Isaac Belsito had 31 yards rushing on a pair of runs.

Defensively for the Sabercats, Andrew Batman had a pair of tackles and six assisted tackles. Jacob Fecteau added a pair of tackles and five assisted tackles for the Sabercats.

Both Sabercats teams will return to action next weekend on the road. The teams will be at York University to face the Vaughan Rebels.