Ironmen Hang on to win Season Opener


Ironmen Hang on to win Season Opener [SENIOR VARSITY]

The long tradition of OVFL season openers began at McMasters Ron Joyce Stadium, as the Varsity Ironmen prepared to battle the Niagara Spears in the scorching heat.

This Golden Horseshoe rivalry had previously displayed high scoring overtime battles with the Spears taking the advantage in the wins column over the duration of the match-ups. This game had the potential to live up to the expectation of the nail biting excitement and atmosphere with both squads claiming to be talented this season. The Ironmen who were led by Veteran RB Ryan Kotar who pounded the ball against an exhausted Spears defense, and found the back of the endzone two times. Kotar was helped by his running partner Ryan Silvestri bringing in another touchdown to put the Ironmen up 21-0 and Julian Hooker adding the singles. However the Spears who adjusted well and made a QB substitution were able to settle the nerves and cash in on slotback Curtis Kelly’s touchdown, with less then two minutes in the half. Coming out for the second half behind 21-6 the Spears looked to be firing on all cylinders and led an air assault scoring two majors, including a long touchdown by Max Cameron and a 2pt convert to tie the game at 21-21. After a blocked Ironmen punt the Spears split the uprights for 3, and a 24-21 lead. The Ironmen held strong with Kotar and the O-Line punishing the Spears defense. Julian Hooker captured a single on a missed field goal, and the defense forced the Spears to give-up a 2pt safety knotting the game at 24-24. The Ironmen took the next possession and marched to th Spears six yard line, with the help of Kotar’s one yard plunge on fourth down, and a 15 yard Spears bench penalty. With only 1.3 seconds left on the clock the Julian Hooker closed the deal by converting a field goal, and giving the Ironmen a 27-24 win at their new McMaster home field. Head Coach Rob Underhill stated ” I am extremely happy with the result and proud of the players as they showed how to remain composed and focussed in the face of adversity. It’s a great starting point for the season. Other strong performances came from HB Frank Cerino who had one interception, and a fumble recovery, and Defensive Line who were able to shut down the Spears run game. Next game is Saturday June 6th at Mississauga.

Robert Underhill
Head Coach
Hamilton Ironmen

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Junior Varsity

On the weekend the Junior Varsity Ironmen played a hard fought game against the Niagara Spears. Unfortunately the boys fell short 30 to 11. Early in the game the offensive had opportunities, but were not able to capitalize on those key situations. Points were scored on a rouge off a missed field goal, as well as a 12 yard field goal by Domenic Bellardini. The lonesome touchdown came off a fumble recovery by Melvin Baugh. The boys are up again this week as they travel to play the Mississauga Warriors.

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PEEWEE

The game started off great for the Ironmen as they returned the opening kick off for the first major of the season. Justin Lloyd was the benefactor of some great blocks and found the hole
to the endzone….
Niagara were a much bigger team and fought back hard to even the score, the Ironmen defence then stopped the Spears on their next drive forcing a punt which Lloyd again returned for his second major of the game.

The Iromen offence got something going in the second qtr and Jacob Lee with some nice running put the Ironmen up 20-12 at halftime

The second half was all Spears as what could go wrong for the Ironmen did go wrong.

By the time the final whistle blew the Spears had rallied for the 28-20 victory.

It was a good lesson for the team as most are first year players in the league and they all got a taste of what the OVFL is all about.

The Niagara Spears team is new to this league but not new to football, they played a hard nose game and in the end were paid off with the 2 points.

Tyler Noble added 2 converts to the Ironmen point total, and also had an interception to snuff out a late second quarter Spears drive.

All in all the Ironmen will learn from the loss and hope to have a better result this week when they face another tough opponent in Mississauga.

HEAD COACH DEREK NOBLE

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

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