Sturgeon Junior Varsity Ruffle
Thunderbird's Feathers
July 16, 2012
The Sarnia Sturgeon Junior
Varsity traveled to London
on Saturday to take on the
Forest City Thunderbirds. At
stake was second place in
the tough Southern Division
of the O.F.C. as both teams
were sporting identical 5-1
records, with the winner
gaining home field advantage
in the first round playoff
game.
The Sarnia defence forced a
three and out on the
Thunderbird opening
possession. The fourth down
punt was blocked by Greg
Roberts. Marco Parete
scooped it up and scampered
45 yards for a touchdown. A
convert by Blake Maxfield
had the Sturgeon up 7-0
before the game was 5
minutes old. On the Sturgeon
next possession quarterback
Josh Elsley hit Erich
Maxfield for a 43 yard
touchdown. Elsley's 2 point
conversion put the Sturgeon
up 15-0 at the end of the
first quarter. The next time
the Sturgeon had the ball
they started from their own
1 yard line. In their most
impressive drive of the
year, the offense drove 109
yards in 9 minutes that
culminated in a 2 yard
touchdown run by Mitchell
Smiley. In Forest City's
ensuing possession, Mason
Kett recovered a fumble and
advanced it to the
Thunderbird 15 yard line.
Four plays later Blake
Maxfield's 21 yard field
goal had the Sturgeon up
25-0 and in apparent control
with time running down in
the half.. The Thunderbird's
talented runner Colton
Robbins broke a 75 yard
touchdown run on their first
play from scrimmage
following the field goal.
The Sturgeon were expecting
a short lick on the
resultant Thunderbird
kickoff, but Forest City
booted the ball into the
Sarnia end zone. The Sarnia
return man ran the ball out
to the 1 yard line where he
fumbled and the Thunderbirds
recovered. One play later
the home side had it's
second touchdown. On the
last play of the half the
Thunderbirds kicked a field
goal to make the score
25-16.
Any momentum the home side
had evaporated as Smiley
took the opening kickoff of
the second half and
scampered 90 yards for a
touchdown. A big sack by
Jeremy Jones halted the
initial Forest City drive of
the second half. Before the
game was over the Sturgeon
scored 3 more majors on 40
and 92 yard runs by Smiley
and a 1 yard plunge by
Elsley. Maxfield converted 2
of these touchdowns. The
Sturgeon left the field with
a convincing 51-19 victory.
Mitchell Smiley led the
offence with 154 yards on 9
carries, Yenel Olivero had
52 tough yards on 14 carries
and Josh Elsley 35 yards on
9 carries.
The Sturgeon host Huronia on
Sunday July 22 at 3 pm to
close out their regular
season. Prior to this game,
the Bantam Sturgeon tackle
Forest City at 1 pm. Both
games are at Norm Perry Park
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