The Mud Bowl. The Bulldogs played in the mud despite the fact that all other ball fields in the city were shut down due to the heavy rain. Photo by Chris Dawson.
The Mud Bowl. The Bulldogs played in the mud despite the fact that all other ball fields in the city were shut down due to the heavy rain. Photo by Chris Dawson.
Heavy rain throughout the day made for an interesting match up Saturday evening when the North Bay Bulldogs hosted the Tri City Outlaws. In what could only be classified as a Mud Bowl, the Bulldogs and Outlaws went back and forth in a very entertaining affair. A big second half by the Outlaws spoiled a three touchdown performance by Sterling Bilz, as the Outlaws pulled off a 24-21 victory in the final minute of the game.
On a night that felt more like mid-October instead of mid-July, the North Bay Bulldogs were giving thanks early and often to their defence. On the Outlaws first possession of the game Scott Brown picked off a Jeff Nosal pass to set up the Bulldogs first score. North Bay quarterback Jason Ferreira hit Steve Asselin for a 30 yard reception on the ensuing drive which helped set the stage for the first of three touchdowns for Bilz. Two plays after the reception Bilz punched the ball in from two yards out to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
The Bulldogs then made it two for two in the turnover department as they forced a fumble on the Outlaws next possession. However the Bulldogs drive would not have the same success as their previous one as Ferreira was picked off by Dustin McKenna and the Outlaws finally seemed to wake up. Tri City put together a 15 play, 69 yard drive, which was capped off by a one yard run by Mike Milner and we had a tie ballgame 7-7.
The Bulldogs were forced to punt on their next possession, but once again the defence was ready to come up big. With the Outlaws driving deep into Bulldogs territory, Randy Biladeau came up with the Bulldogs second interception of the game, setting up yet another Bilz touchdown. After Ferriera had passed for 32 yards on the drive and Bilz had already racked up 10 yards of his own, he took a handoff from the Outlaws 16 yard line and carried it into the end zone with only 49 seconds left in the first half, giving North Bay a 14-7 lead.
Maybe caught a bit off guard by the play of the Bulldogs, Tri City made some halftime adjustments which put the Bulldogs on their heels. Tri City came out running a read-option offence and the Bulldogs had trouble slowing them down. The Outlaws first drive of the second half was a 7 play 51 yard drive which ended in a 10 yard touchdown run by John Nedeljkovic and the score was now 14-14. Bulldogs head coach Marc Mathon was complementary of the changes the Outlaws made.
“That was a nice adjustment they made. It was an interesting offence they were running but it was working. We took too long to make our own adjustments, but we were playing well enough that we forced them to adjust. We forced them to play their best tonight.”
The Bulldogs were unable to get anything going on their next possession and had a three and out and it was then time for the Ian Forde show. Forde, and ex-CFL’er, showed why he could be a game breaker. After a five yard run by Jeff Nosal got the ball to mid-field, Forde took a handoff on the next play and 55 yards later he was celebrating in the end-zone leaving a trail of Bulldog defenders behind him, and giving his team a 21-14 lead.
The Bulldogs then took over and were able to get deep into Outlaws territory thanks to a 45 yard reception by Matt Gordon. However; the Bulldogs would make a decision that came back to haunt them later on. With Sterling Bilz nursing an injury on the sideline, the Bulldogs had a third and two but could not convert. Instead of kicking a field goal on fourth down, Mathon decided to try another run but it was not to be as Kevin Romakko was stuffed on fourth down. The Bulldogs coach was quick to defend his decision at the end of the game.
“We saw a hole,” said Mathon regarding the decision to go for it on fourth down.
“We ran a play where we knew it would leave us a hole. With Sterling hurt on the sidelines it was tough; it may have been different if he was in there. In hindsight it would have probably been better to kick the field goal.”
The Outlaws got the ball back and looked to have taken a 28-14 lead thanks to another brilliant play by Ian Forde. With the ball on their own 25 yard line Forde took another handoff and dazzled the crowd as he bolted down the field 85 yards for another touchdown, but a block in the back penalty nullified his efforts. The Bulldogs defence then stepped up their play forcing the Outlaws to punt.
Jason Ferreira was determined not to let the Outlaws off the hook and led another Bulldogs scoring drive. Ferreira hit Andre Landry twice for 12 yard completions, and Dave Wilson for a 13 yard reception. After a nine yard run by Sterling Bilz, Ferreira looked for Matt Gordon in the end zone and although the pass was incomplete, it drew a pass interference penalty giving the Bulldogs a first and goal from the Outlaws one. On the next play Bilz got his hat trick, scoring his third touchdown of the game and tying the game 21-21 with 2:07 left to play.
Jeff Nosal, not looking to be outshined by Ferreira, led his Outlaws back onto the field for the final scoring drive of the game. Nosal ran for 19 yards, Nedeljkovic added another 16, and a 15 yard penalty by the Bulldogs put the ball on their own 25. With 18 seconds left Domenic Camastro would come onto the field to kick the game winning field goal giving the Outlaws a 24-21 win. The loss ended the Bulldogs three game winning streak and dropped their record to 3-3.
After the game Mathon was quick to give credit to the Outlaws for the way they played, especially in the second half.
“That’s why they are in first,” said Mathon after the final whistle.
“We were there with them the whole game. We played real hard. We had a few mental breakdowns and they took advantage of them. Penalties swayed the game, I won’t say they cost us the game though, because it’s a team game. However some of those penalties made it easier for the Outlaws. The guys really need to focus on avoiding penalties.”
The Bulldogs will be back in action, and looking to get back into the win column next week when they host the Quinte-Limestone Panthers. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, July 21st @ Rollie Fischer field.
