The Sudbury U18 AA Jr Spartans need little to no reminding that come playoff time, upsets are a thing.
This time last summer, the local OSFL (Ontario Summer Football League) team entered post-season play as the top seed in their bracket, posting a 6-1 regular season record and showing the way in their division.
Unfortunately, one week after bouncing the Sault Ste Marie Sabrecats 45-37 in their 2025 regular season finale, the Spartans dropped a 29-15 decision to that very same opponent - a squad which occupied fourth place as playoff action began.
This past Saturday, coach Shane Hutchinson and company closed out their 2026 schedule with a 42-22 win over the Clarington Knights, bumping their record to 5-2 on the year.
That mark, however, finds the nickel city lads now sitting fourth, losing out on the tie-breaker with the Scarborough Thunder due to a 24-20 week two loss and forced to hit the road next Saturday to face a 7-0 Huronia Stallions side in Barrie.
"Everyone needs to show up at practice and get good reps in," noted linebacker Connor Monahan, recognized as defensive player of the game in a contest in which the Sudbury second stringers played more than 50% of the encounter.
"Everyone needs to watch the film and just work on bettering themselves."
It's no surprise that the approach that the 17 year-old who will head back to join the Lo-Ellen Park Knights for his grade 12 campaign in the fall bears a great deal of resemblance to how he went about preparing for a Clarington team that entered the matchup with a record of 1-5.
"No matter what, with all teams, you never know what they are going to come in with," said Monahan. "They can watch enough film to make it work. In practice, I try and get in as many reps as I can - and then watching the film so that when they run their play, I know what to do."
A formidable presence on the outside against the run, Monahan has looked to better defend the pass as the all-around athlete who won gold in the junior boys javelin event at city championships one year ago works on expanding every facet of his game.
"The main thing I worked on was my coverage," he said. "It's hard to man up on some guys - and also improving my footwork and my football knowledge."
With their first stringers in the game, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead on touchdowns from King David Igiehon (74 yard punt return), Koen Palmquist (26 yard pass from Evan DeMarchi) and Dylan Nelson (58 yard pass from DeMarchi).
When the lead narrowed to 28-22 in the second half, coach Hutchison re-entered his number one unit, with Palmquist (7 yard pass from DeMarchi) and Cameron Quesnel (13 yard pass from DeMarchi) restoring some much appreciated breathing room.
Rounding out the scoring for Sudbury were Malakai Mayers (one yard TD run) and Koen Palmquist (6 converts).
With the Sudbury offense limited to just 30 yards rushing, the bulk of their ball movement came courtesy of the arm of Evan DeMarchi, his stat line reading 6/13 for 200 yards in the air.
No less than 17 different Spartans recorded at least one tackle in the game, with Connor Monahan recording a pair of interceptions and three tackles for loss. Keegan Adair also had a pick for Sudbury.
