The Sudbury Spartans didn’t drive no stinking eight hours just to be sacrificial lambs.

It is true that, in the end, the local summer men’s football crew did not walk off as champions in the very first year of existence of the new Ontario Power 5 Football League.

The Sarnia Imperials will forever be known as the inaugural winners, besting the visiting Spartans 22-9 Saturday night in the southwestern Ontario city that looks across the St Clair River at Port Huron, Michigan.

But after watching the Imperials school the Tri-City Outlaws 37-14 in semi-final action two weeks ago while the Spartans upset the Soo Steelers 8-6 to finally hit the win column after being saddled with six straight regular season losses, there were those who most certainly believed the half-day trek for the northern crew was a pointless one, the end result of the championship affair a foregone conclusion.

“They did not walk all over us in that game,” said Sudbury head coach Junior Labrosse. “Our guys were in this game. I’m really proud of the guys. They did everything I asked and left everything out on the field.”

The Spartans opened the scoring in the first quarter on a safety but subsequently fell victim to a pair of mishaps that proved costly. “They (Sarnia) capitalized on a bobbled punt and a rushed punt where they shot everybody at Christmas (Sudbury punter Nicholas Christmas),” said Labrosse.

“He just barely got it off but it didn’t get any distance. I would say that the only real offensive threat was their third touchdown. Apart from that, it was a back and forth game, all about field position.”

With pretty much all hands on deck – the Spartans were without the services of running back Luke Crepeau and lineman Curtis Perusini due to injuries – the locals were able to keep the high-powered Imperials below the 30-point mark for the first time in three meetings this year.

“Our defense played phenomenal, but our offense struggled a bit,’ said Labrosse. “We couldn’t get a run game going and when they knew we could not establish the run game, they were sending the house.”

That inability to move the ball proved costly in the opening half when Sarnia took advantage of a very short field, driving in from inside the Sudbury 25 yard line to go up 14-2 at the half. “When you have an offense that close to your end zone, it’s hard,” noted Labrosse.

Enjoying an element of success through the air, the Spartans marched in the second half and were rewarded when quarterback Adam Rocha scrambled in from the five. Defensive turnovers from both Victor Paajanen (interception) and Andrew Gillis (fumble recovery) also helped keep the Imperials at bay.

Spencer Bollman, Geoffrey Clubine and Brandon McCraney accounted for the majors for Sarnia as the home side boasted a nicely balanced attack, registering 148 yards on the ground (91 for Clubine; 67 for Bollman) and 157 through the air (Dante Lewis - 6 catches for 69 yards; McCraney - 1 catch for 60).

Sudbury was limited to 64 yards rushing but did have some success with their passing game: Drake Thiessen - 5 / 88 yards; Zack Primeau - 2 / 50; Victor Paajanen - 2 / 44.

“There was no “I could haves”, “I should haves” – they gave it everything they had,” said Labrosse.

All of which has the NFC Hall of Fame defensive back already looking to the summer of 2025 when the OP5FL is rumoured to welcome back at least another couple of teams who were rivals with the Spartans during their lengthy tenure in the Northern Football Conference.

“We’re about three pieces away – but three pieces doesn’t mean three players,” said Labrosse. “We could use some extra "O" linemen, a couple more running backs, a few more receivers – and a few more guys on defense and special teams.”

And he knows exactly where he plans to look as a starting point in building up the numbers.

“Going into next year, the U18 (Jr Spartans) have got something like thirty or so overagers – and they can only keep ten,” stressed Labrosse. “I want those 20 other players to play with us. They need to know that if you love the game of football, there is another avenue for you. Come and play men’s.”

And he need look no further than the 2024 Sudbury Spartans roster to know that these kids can play.

“The young kids that we had played,” said Labrosse. “Don’t believe me? – come and talk to those players. Even in the final, the moment wasn’t too big for them.”

Sudbury youngsters and veterans alike had worked too damn hard to travel all the way to Sarnia simply to go through the motions.

And so they return north, perhaps with no hardware in hand, but with heads held high – and there is clearly value in that.