What a great start to the season.
Or maybe it was just beginner’s luck.
Whatever the case, props to me for going 8-1 in Week 1 in my first-ever attempt at picking
The only blemish came courtesy of the St. Benedict Saints, who posted a 35-9 win over the Eastwood Rebels on Tuesday. Congratulations to the Saints, who with the win have already guaranteed they will have a better record than they did in 2008 when they went 0-6.
Week 2 won’t be so easy to pick, starting with an A division game on Friday (3 p.m.) between
The Golden Gaels are coming off an impressive 34-7 win over the Elmira Lancers in their opener, with receiver Andrew Thibaudeau scoring three touchdowns and power runner Tyler Varga adding a pair. Could the Gaels be really that good?
The Knights, meanwhile, wound up on the short end of a 24-9 decision to the defending champion Resurrection Phoenix. Was it just a bad day for the Knights or are the
Here’s what makes this one so important. A win by Cameron and the Gaels will establish themselves as a legitimate threat to challenge Rez and Sir John A. Macdonald for top spot. A win by Bluevale, on the other hand, and it would appear that Rez and SJAM are the teams to beat.
The Highlanders, for those who missed it, looked very strong on both sides of the ball in their Week 1 romp over
The keys for Bluevale on defence will be getting pressure on Cameron QB Andrew Usztics and doing their best to slow Thibaudeau and Varga. It could be much more difficult than it sounds.
On offence, Knights coach Chris Wolf wants to see better blocking from his lineman.
“We have some great skilled athletes but if our quarterback (Wes Palmer) doesn’t have time to get them the ball or if our running backs don’t have holes to run through, we’re not going to be successful,” said Wolf at Wednesday’s practice.
Knights running back SpirosTrasias has the talent to do some damage if the holes are there.
“We’ve got more speed than we’ve had in the past and a couple of our guys are a threat to take the ball into the end zone every time they touch the ball,” said
“And our defence is coming together and we’ll be aggressive. . . . Bluevale has had our number over the last few years so we’re hoping we have the talent to beat them this year.”
People I’ve talked with suggest Bluevale is the team to beat in this one. So, of course, I’ll go with
Thursday
The
The Panthers didn’t have anything go right in their loss against SJAM in Week 1. Still, there is plenty of talent there. Trojans coach Tim McIvor is enthused about his young squad going into the opener. A flip of the coin and it comes up Trojans.
St. David (0-1) at
The Eagles make their B division debut in this one and coach Peter Cheeseman likes his roster. The Celtics went 0-6 last year and need a win to turn things around. It just won’t happen this week. Take the Eagles.
Friday
Galt (1-0) at Southwood (1-0), 1 p.m.
The week’s first clash between undefeated teams could be an early indicator of which team is tops in the B division standings. The difference could be the Galt defence, which was nearly perfect in an 8-3 win over
Jacob Hespeler (1-0) at
The Hawks looked very solid in a Week 1 romp over WCI as the offence was solid all around and the defence was up to the task. It will be more of the same on Friday.
Tuesday
Kyle Americano is a great name and he plays for the Saints.
The Crusaders took an ‘it’s-us-against-the-world’ approach to firing themselves up for their Week 1 win over KCI. The
KCI (0-1) vs. Eastwood (0-1), 3 p.m.,
The Raiders actually did some things very well in their Week 1 loss to Waterloo-Oxford. They’ll build on that this week and get their first win since their rebirth.
Last week: 8-1
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Speaking of football, there's a bit of a safety issue at the Bridgeport home of KCI. Nothing too big, but one of the end zone corners is a bit of a mess on the main playing field. It's not level and has tennis ball size rocks dotting the area. Just make both end zones five yards shorter and problem solved.
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A look at the District 8 volleyball standings reveal an interesting trend.
On the senior side, Woodland Christian, Rez and Rockway are all at 3-0, while St. Mary's is 2-1.
On the junior side, Woodland Christian, Rez and St. Mary's are 3-0, while Rockway is 2-1.
St. David, Monsignor Doyle, Pere Rene and St. Benedict occupy the bottom half of the standings in both.
