The football might look a little different but the intensity of the Sudbury Spartans always seems to shine through - even when we are dealing with the inaugural outings of the OWFL (Ontario Women's Football League) ever to take place at the James Jerome Sports Complex.

The Sudbury Spartans girls teams would reward the hometown crowd by sweeping their games with the Bel-Air Lions from Ottawa, with the U16 crew toppling the visitors 46-30 while the U19 girls bounced Bel-Air 34-8 in the nightcap.

In the early game, Sudbury overcame an early deficit before finally hitting their stride, with the offense led by the likes of quarterback Gia Rocca (3 TDs; 4 two-point conversions), Laila Lalonde (two touchdowns and a two-point conversion) and Macey Kiviaho (touchdown).

Defensively, Kiisa Cousineau, Lexi Winnington-Ingram and Sloane Hall were always in the thick of things as the locals gradually adjusted to the Lions attack, limiting their opponents to almost nothing in the second half.

"On defense, we couldn't wait for them to come to us; we had to get to them before they came to us," noted Lalonde of the in-game adjustments that helped the Spartans prevail. "On offense, it was a matter of more blocking."

"We improved greatly by the end of the game."

A 13 year-old grade eight student at Lively District Secondary School who is following in the footsteps of an older brother who plays for the Hawks, Lalonde embodies exactly the mindset that is needed to succeed in female tackle football.

"Personally, I'm not afraid to get hit; I'm not afraid to get hurt," suggested Lalonde. "As long as it's a clean play and everybody is getting up, I'm okay with it."

"I want everybody to get up and just keep playing."

The senior game saw Sudbury hammer out a 34-0 lead in the fourth before Bel-Air returned a kickoff 70 yards for their only score of the game.

By then, the Spartans were well in control thanks to Sophie Leveillé (TD - 9 yard run - Q1); Lea Berardi (TD - 12 yard run - Q1; two point conversion from Sienna Laurent, Berardi again (TD - 2 yard run - Q2; Laurent with 2 pt PAT), Sienna Laurent (TD - 1 yard run - Q3) and Sophie Leveillé (TD - 53 yard run).

Both Sudbury teams are back at home this coming weekend, in tough against the top-ranked Peel Panthers, a program that sports a combined record of 5-1 at the moment, with game times set for 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m..