Glads’ premature end

This past Saturday, the Sudbury Gladiators of the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) lost 37-13 to the Huronia Stallions in the Mike Ramsay Conference semi-final.

The loss ended the Gladiators season.

It was the second time these teams have met this season and the Gladiators were hoping to have a better outing.  In their previous game, the Stallions crushed the Gladiators 45-1.

“Huronia did better on special teams than we did on Saturday,” commented Gladiators defensive back Josiah Walt.  “They would always set themselves up with good field position which made it difficult for our defense with such a short field.”

“We made some errors on special teams that ended up costing us points.”

Walt felt the team improved a great deal offensively since they last played the Stallions in Week 6, although he sew areas needed for improvement.

“Last game we only scored one point and it was on special teams,” explained Walt. “On Saturday we were able to sustain some drives and put up some points.”

Even though the Gladiators’ playoff journey was cut shot, it was still a very successful season.

“I don’t think anyone around the league would have believed that we would have went 5-2-1 at the beginning of the season,” said Walt. “We had a lot of young guys step up and play key roles for our team which was nice to see.”

“I believe that there are some key pieces to our team that will be sticking around for a couple more years that will help them be a competitive team year after year.”

Rookie Head Coach Reg Bonin, is credited for the team’s unexpected success this season.

“He brought a positive and calm approach to our team and gave us confidence in ourselves by believing we were never out of a game,” added Walt. “He pays attention to the little things that make a good coach a great coach.”

Bonin has religiously reviewed game film and altered his team’s game plan specifically for each opponent, which has been a key to his coaching success.

“It’s fun to play for a coach who is as big as a football fan as he is,” stated Walt.” It was an honour to play for Coach Bonin.”