The North Bay Bulldogs family gathered for its games at Mike O'Shea Field this Sunday with heavy hearts as longtime player Reece Rossetti, 20, was involved in a motorcycle accident on June 28 in North Bay, and sustained serious injuries that have required him to be treated at Health Sciences North in Sudbury. Rossetti has a long road to recovery ahead of him and a page has been created by his closest supporters to aid with his and his family's travel needs while he does so.
On the field, the U16 Junior Varsity Bulldogs scored 28 unanswered points to knock off the Peterborough Wolverines in a game that was a tale of two halves.
A slow start led to a 20-0 Peterborough Wolverines advantage in the second quarter. The Bulldogs trailed 20-7 at the half.
The Bulldogs emerged from the break a different squad as the defence did not allow another point and the Bulldogs got rushing touchdowns from running back Jake Dore and quarterback Dayne Meyer. The Bulldogs' Carson Sagle routinely pounded the Wolverines' defence on the ground. Meyer played his best game all season, also throwing two touchdowns to star wide receiver Teodor Nadeau, including the 98-yard game-winner with less than two minutes to go.
The defence received strong performances from Troy Cormier and Wesley Strength-Dupuis. Lineman Parker Weller was a force, playing on both sides of the ball for much of the game. Kicker Luke Braceland continues to shine on special teams. His clutch field goal late in the fourth quarter made it an eight-point cushion as the Bulldogs prevailed 28-20.
Head Coach Stu Campaigne was pleased to see his team rally in the second half but says starting so slow is a dangerous game.
"We got it done, but man, getting out to a lead wouldn't hurt either. I have complete faith in this coaching staff and our players. We made some adjustments, we executed our game plan in the second half and we got every bounce. We will get back to practice this week and work toward getting into the proper mindset before kickoff against our next opponents.
"It was a much-needed win and an important one for our Bulldogs family. It was special to see people coming together for Reece Rossetti and his family."
The U16 Junior Varsity Bulldogs (2-4) are in a playoff position in the OSFL U16 AA East and will face the Durham Dolphins (0-5) in Pickering on Saturday at 1 p.m. This is the final road game of the regular season for the team.
The U14 Bantam Bulldogs were up against the undefeated U14 Wolverines and suffered a 37-0 loss.
"We were moving the ball but kept falling short," said Head Coach Christa Morgan. "The players had been talking about Peterborough's number 11, Cooper Lunn (see photo above) all week. He's a very talented player and very difficult to tackle. One missed tackle and he's gone. We made lots of great runs and lots of great tackles. These things don't show on the scoreboard but are things we see."
Connor Mashford played both sides of the ball making numerous tackles and had some great runs. Calum Grant and Grayson Lueder hit the ground running and moved the ball but could not reach the end zone. The offence spread the ball around on Sunday, with some great throws and handoffs by quarterback Tye Watkins. The defence was led by Cam Smetana, Waylon Pascoe, Will Lundholm and Andrew Isabelle.
The U14 Bantam Bulldogs (3-3) will prepare this week to travel to North York to take on the Toronto Junior Argos (2-4).
