The Sarnia Sturgeon bantams played
their home opener against the undefeated Oakville Titans at
Germain Park on Saturday and came away with a convincing
54-14 victory. This marked the first time a football game
had been played at Germain Park in many years. The location
was due to the fact the city did not want the Sturgeon
playing a tripleheader on each of their teams first home
games of the season over concerns for the condition of the
field at Norm Perry Park.
The Sturgeon, who split their first
two games on the road, won the toss and elected to defer to
the second half. Following the opening kickoff the Sturgeon
defense came out hitting hard and stopped the Titan offence,
forcing them to punt. On the home side's first possession
Hayden MacLean sped 29 yards around left end to score at the
seven minute mark. Nic Paquette's convert was successful.
Again the Sturgeon defense held the Titans, and on the
Sturgeon's second possession, Mitchell Smiley scampered for
an 88 yard touchdown run on a crafty reverse called by
offensive coordinator Dave Elsley. Paquette's second
conversion increased the score to 14-0. The Titans got on
the board midway through the second quarter as they
countered with their first major on a 2 yard run by bruising
fullback, Mac Vanduzer. The Sturgeon replied with 2
touchdowns in the final 3 minutes of the first half, both on
touchdown passes from quarterback Josh Elsley to Hayden
MacLean, one for 22 yards and the other for 24 yards. Marco
Parete ran for a two point convert on the first of these 2
touchdowns. The score at the half was 28-7.
The Sturgeon's initial possession in
the second half was an eight minute drive that culminated
with a 14 yard pass frrom Elsley to Erich Maxfield. Later in
the quarter Maxfield again scored on a 9 yard pass. The
Titan's lone score of the second half was a 19 yeard pass to
Marcus Papin that was successfully converted by kicker
Kimbal Mackenzie. The hard running twins, Alex and Marco
Parete, each rumbled for a touchdown in the final quarter to
complete the scoring.
The Bantams next game is at Norm Perry
Park on Sunday June 20 at 3 p.m. against Forest City.