You don’t very often see an eight yard field goal, at any level of football.
But trailing 10-8 and unwilling to take their chances on a third and goal from the Sudbury one yard line with under a minute to play, the Huronia Stallions entrusted kicker Bennett Roe to make the difference at the U16 Jr Spartans home opener on Saturday.
Splitting the uprights with ease, Roe lifted his team to an 11-10 victory, but not before the locals extended their string of shutout quarters to open the season to six in another staunch defensive effort.
For the second straight game, defensive tackle Maddox Preston proved to be a handful for the opposing offensive line, recording a pair of sacks and several tackles either behind the line of scrimmage or just a yard or two ahead.
Not a bad day for a 15 year old who only picked up the sport in grade nine at Lasalle Secondary School.
“I’ve just been trying to get better every day, trying to catch up to my brother (Cole – U18 Jr Spartans),” said Preston. “He’s a big motivator for me.”
The Jr Spartans started quickly but could not add to an early lead after quarterback Evan Demarchi hit running back Levi Blouin on a crossing pattern, with the young speedster doing the rest, outracing the Stallions defense for a 59 yard catch and run.
Jr Spartans kicker Domingo Quintana made good on the convert and added a rouge on a second quarter field goal attempt that sailed wide as Sudbury took an 8-0 lead to the half – this after blanking the North Bay Bulldogs 28-0 last week.
Byron Marshall added a key interception deep in Sudbury territory for the home side as Preston and his defensive cohorts continued to stymie the Stallions, with the now lineman clearly thrilled with his move from his original preference towards a linebacking position.
“The coaches noticed that when I would blitz, I was a lot faster off the line than in coverage,” said Preston. “They moved me to “D” tackle to see what I could do. The key for me in getting through the line is a lot of hands. My favourite coach, coach Tate (James) teaches us a lot about using quick hands.”
“And it’s a lot about your “get off” too, getting out of your stance and getting through.”
Slowly, however, the ebb and flow began to turn in favour of Huronia. Punter Rodrigo Rivas broke the ice for the visitors, recording a rough and midway through quarter four, Max Mischenko hauled in a 12 yard TD pass, with the ensuing PAT leaving the contest knotted at 8-8.
The Jr Spartans appeared to catch the break they would need just a few minutes later. A punt by Quintana sailed into the end zone and was returned just past the goal line, only to see Huronia called on an illegal block. Given that the infraction occurred in the end zone, Sudbury was awarded a safety (Prince Komolafe), jumping ahead 10-8.
“Huronia was a lot more motivated than North Bay,” said Preston. “As a team, we need to work a lot more on discipline (avoiding penalties) – but the hard work and talent is most certainly there.”
Scoring was not nearly as hard to come by in the U18 encounter as Sudbury bounced back from a tough 20-19 loss on the road in week one, taking down the Huronia Stallions by a final count of 45-20 as wide receiver Quin Mazzuchin recorded no less than five touchdown receptions.
Koen Palmquist added the remaining major and Braedan Beggs chipped in with five converts as Sudbury also recorded a pair of safeties.
“I was most pleased with our preparation,” said head coach Alex Vendramin. “Last week, we made some big errors that costs us points, that costs us a couple of drives. We preached all week to execute, to know your role, know your job and go out and do it at 100% - and I thought our guys did that today.”
Also the Jr Spartans week two opponent one year ago, the Stallions stopped Sudbury 35-20 in 2024 but were not so fortunate this time around. “We caught them on the right day,” said Vendramin.
“We saw a couple of things on film that we thought we could exploit and that worked out in our favour. And any time you throw it to 88 (Quin Mazzuchin), he’s going to make a play.”
Both Sudbury teams are back at home next Saturday with the Quinte Skyhawks providing the opposition.
