The Joe MacDonald Youth Football League (JMYFL) has long prided itself on its role as the key developmental stage for a good number of the young athletes who will go on in a starring capacity at their respective high-schools in the years to come.

Judging from the final product exhibited during the “Turkey Bowl” Monday afternoon at the James Jerome Sports Complex, many a secondary school coach will be tickled pink with the talent base they will inherit next fall and beyond.

For as much as the tyke intrasquad encounter had the feel of a controlled scrimmage, playmaking was at the forefront, from start to finish including on a spectacular bomb of a touchdown reception as quarterback Brady Hartley laid it out perfectly to the waiting fingertips of wideout Chase Benoit-Courroux, coming through with a catch that the Sunday stars would have been proud of.

Where pure competitive outings might have been the norm a decade ago or so, the JMYFL of 2025 sees youngsters schooled in several aspects of the game, a variety of skills rendering them far more valuable as those who wish to continue to partake enter SDSSAA junior ranks in roughly 12 months or so.

Currently attending Ecole secondaire publique Hanmer but hoping to make his way over to Confederation Secondary next fall, Kaylen Pelland has learned the intricacies of both offensive (running back being his position of choice) as well as defensive safety roles.

“The offense is a little more fun,” noted the talented 13 year-old. “There’s more running and I like running – and I get to juke them out a lot more. At running back, I get a lot of opportunities to improve myself. When I am running, I am focusing on the play, trying not to mess up and making sure to get to the holes.”

“If you don’t, you’re probably going to get tackled. And this guy right here (Connor Timmers) is really good at going through our holes.”

Timmers was in blue on this day, Pelland in red. More often than not, the adversaries were staring into each other’s eyes opposite the line of scrimmage. All of which was fine given their respective preferences.

“I like playing defense more,” said Timmers, the younger brother of stalwart Lively Hawks running back Bennett Timmers. “He’s a bit faster than me – and he’s stronger, of course. But we run kind of the same and hit the same.”

Connor enjoys the hitting – and as a defensive tackle right in the midst of the trenches, he often has the opportunity to do so.

“You look for the holes if their line,” he said. “If the O Line is lined up too wide, you can go right through that hole – and they usually don’t expect it when I do it.”

“You just try and read the play. If it’s a screen pass, throw your arms up. But I like defending the run because then I can hit them better and harder.”

Lining up a safety, Kaylen Pelland sees his role as something of a safety net, that last line of defense who benefits from the vantage point that allows everything going on to hopefully happen in front of him, in full view.

“At safety, you try not to go forward right away,” said Pelland. “You back up and watch the play, try and see where the quarterback is looking so you know where the pass is going to go.”

And on non-passing plays?

“On running plays, you move up a little more and try and let the forward defense (linemen and linebackers) handle it,” he stated. “And then you come in and finish it.”

Connor Timmers has no issue with being that point of first contact, even if they run away from his side.

“You want to try and run at an angle, don’t just run at them,” he said. “If you go at an angle, you can get them better.”

Still with local football talent, former Lasalle Lancers and Sudbury Gladiators standout Zidain Allen finds himself contributing with the top university team in the country.

Now in his second year with the Laurier Golden Hawks, Allen has displayed gradual improvement, named as one of the “Scout Team Players of the Week” back on September 2nd and finding his way through to blocking a punt in a Laurier 59-21 win over the University of Toronto Blues on September 27th.

Step one in U Sports football is to work your way into receiving a jersey number and the recruited running back finds himself donning #34 these days for the team which captured both the Uteck Bowl and the Yates Bowl in 2024.

His long-time partner in crime on the gridiron continues to shine in Massachusetts as Paolo Grossi was named as one of four senior captains with the powerhouse Tabor Academy football team. Having easily established his all-around versatility in Sudbury, Grossi is currently showcasing the same south of the border.

In a 37-7 win over Williston Northampton last month, Grossi was recognized as the Special Teams Player of the Game, scampering 37 yards on a fake punt and adding four converts while also continuing to star in his role as a starting defensive back.

This most recent Thanksgiving weekend saw a number of the Sudbury university students returning home, including Carleton Ravens offensive lineman Will Elliott. The former St Benedict Bears standout is in his first year as a Chemistry major and has been assigned #69 in his rookie campaign.