Varsity

Junior

Teams "Content" with Scrimmage Performance [May 17, 2004]

 The two Wildcats teams came into yesterday's scrimmages with the up and coming Halton Invictas with distinctly separate agendas. The J's (left), who have been scrimmaging against familiar faces for weeks now,  were aching to get at some new opposition. They clearly held the advantage in play despite several dropped passes from QB Jansen Shrubb. RB Jonathan Tamer ran like a man possessed while Matt Adetuyi led the defense in stops and had a pick. The highlight was Shrubbs roll-out lazer he threw on the 4th series to receiver Jordan Kaczmarzyk for a TD. The V' Cats (right), missing several starters and without a scrimmage yet in pre-season practice, were coming to Halton just to work out the kinks and get the feel back. Despite that they showed reasonably well on defense even though they gave up 3 TD bombs on identical timing patterns. With only 4 plays to draw from and players playing out of position and both ways all game the Offense sputtered. The highlight of the game strangely enough came  when QB George Gretes annihilated the Invictas player  who had just picked off his pass. "A Train" Thomas was all over the field on defense while Blair looked solid with several strong gains up the gut on O. An unexpected surprise was the consistent foot of high rate prospect TE/K Chris Ioannides who booted a  40+yd  FG. The goal line just moved up 30 yards for the V'Cats!

Wildcats Escape from Ottawa with one of two [May 30, 2004]
If there was a theme that came out of both of yesterdays tilts against the Cumberland Panthers it was "Penalties kill."  They kill plays, they kill drives and they kill opportunities. Both Varsity and the J'Cats games saw a rash of nuisance penalties...off-sides, illegal procedures, delay-of-games, too many men calls that made winning against two slick Cumberland teams difficult. Our juniors came out and got the early momentum and spent much of the first quarter in the Panther red zone. But after gaining only 4 points the momentum shifted to Cumberland for the rest of the half and they took a 10-4 half time lead. The offense continued to sputter into late third when trailing 18-4, the J'Cats took over and scored 11 unanswered, including a beautiful strike from Shrubb to Sikorski. The O-line seemed to start to gel and Shrubb became more confident  If there were another quarter in the game, we probably win this one, but the clock ran out and the Juniors begrudgingly go 0-1. A strong finish though should help them regroup this week. The Varsity team looked strong to start. They took a 13-0 lead early on TD's passes from Kaju to Clarke then Legault. But it was after that that penalties began to erode the offense and a key fumble on our own 1 yard line gave the Panthers a freebee and with that momentum. The half time score of 13-10 flattered Cumberland and frustrated captains Anthony Thomas and Matt Black who took the team aside and blasted their teammates with a verbal barrage heard in Parliament (right). It worked. The V'Cats came out in the third  and scored on successive drives, again both receptions by Robin Legault to go up 25-10. The defense was very strong all day, although the Panther counter bootlegs by a very athletic QB  seemed to handcuff us at times. The only blemish on the day was a 4th quarter bomb by their backup QB against a broken coverage that gave them some hope. But that was it.25-18 Wildcats even with 27 penalties for 205 yards. Unacceptable. Both teams can take solace in that there is no mystery to their problems and they can be targeted and worked out in practice. Its on to Mississauga next week where no Wildcats team has won before. Practice hard guys!

Wildcats limp out of Mississauga [June 5, 2004]
The Metro Toronto Wildcats have always had trouble at Mississauga Valleys and today as no different. The Varsity team came to Valleys ranked #7 and hoped to knock  the #1 ranked Warriors down a few pegs. However it became apparent early that the same problems that hampered their efforts against Cumberland had not been worked out. Problem is they weren't playing Cumberland. The penalty problem bit the Cats again on this day and  the Warriors made them pay, going up 14-0 at the half. The home team Warriors did not out-physical our guys but they showed more poise in their drives, as opposed the Cats who continued a one-step-forward-one-step-back type of ball movement. It should be noted that the V'Cat offensive line was decimated by injuries. Out were  Cusmariu and Evran and going both ways were Michael Stewart, to start. Kovshoff and Valencia also saw action on O-line and also played both sides. So not surprisingly, the O took its share of sacks and Allistair had to make much of his own yardage. The D still looked strong but gave up several key 3rd down conversions to Mississauga. The one highlight was a long strike from George Gretes to Ricky Clarke that covered about 70 yards in the 4th quarter. The final was 30-6 Warriors. The J'Cats came in facing a motivated Warrior squad that had lost a hard fought game versus Limestone a week before. But our guys felt they had not shown well last week and looked to regain some self respect today. They gave up an early score on a pass but looked  better on offense early than they had last week. They drove the ball fairly well and stayed away from the penalties that plagued them against Cumberland. Despite this the Warriors took a 20-0 halftime lead even though the J'Cats seemed to play descent football over the first 30 minutes. The 3rd quarter started with the Offence clicking. Shrubb seemed very confident and was hitting Sikorski and Weir. Tamer was beginning to roll as the O-Line opened up some creases in a strong Warrior D-line. And even though they were forced to punt the ball into the Warrior zone, the team felt the momentum shifting to the Gold and Blue. On defence, we saw some great play from #42 Matt Adetuyi, who is showing himself to be a force at backer. The entire defense was superb early in the third forcing a 3 and out and a punt from Mississauga which should have left the J'Cats in great field position. Unfortunately, the return was fumbled in our half and the Warriors scored after short drive. The team played well for the rest of the game actually looked to carry the play for several periods of time but it was too little too late. The final was 29-0 Warriors. 

Varsity Tempting Unexpected Fate With Loss [June 12, 2004}
Enough messing around. Or is it. Anyone around the Wildcats bench on game three at Chinguacousy would have assumed the season was over. Players throwing helmets, "superstars" throwing expletives to anyone who would hear. The team started strong on D as usual but gave up uncharacteristic  bombs on the outside  and middle seams to Messam to give them a 20-7 halftime lead. The team started strong in the third when corner Cleon Holmes, a target of the Bulldog O in Blacks absence, picked off a fade and ran it in to close the gape to 20-13. But on the ensuing KO the V'Cat KO team caved and Messam scored to make it 27-13. The V Cat O came alive when QB Kaju hit Clutterbuck across the middle to set up a score making the score 27-20 in the late 3rd early 4th. The D then took over gave the O two scoring ops. On the first we fumbled a QB/C exchange (the second) which killed the drive and when we had the second chance it was picked off by a slow LB who set up a score. It was then that the jailhouse opened on the sideline and normally "leader" quality people broke down. Fact. 2 weeks off now and 5 games to go. We could go 5-0 or...

Juniors Win! [June 12, 2004]
Tipster...you are brutal! The J'Cats won and won convincingly today over the #9 ranked Brampton Bulldogs today 25-10 at Chinguacousy park.  After a very tough loss to the Warriors last week and some off field roster "adjustments" this week, the J's could have been ripe for the picking and an 0-3 start but the boys came to play and showed a sense of team unity not yet seen this year. It started early on the field as the defense totally outclassed the Bulldog O. Arun and Adetuyi were punishing the Dog attack early and led to an early blocked punt for the Special Forces. Then it was Andre Brown picking off a pass near the Bulldog bench and taking it in for a converted TD. The O took over again after Brampton's O sputtered and after taking deep into enemy territory settled for a very respectable Sikorski Field goal.  D was the word for the Cats today and Jamal George did it again, picking off an out pattern then showing he wants to be an RB by dodging his way almost 60 yards for another major (pic at left). This guy had a phenomenal game all around. The J'Cats were up 17-0 at the half. Brampton showed some grit starting the third Q with a field goal  and on the ensuing KO short kicked wide, caught the ball on a bounce and took it in to make the score 17-10. But the Cats showed that was just a mind cramp and dominated the rest of the quarter. It was then that the special teams showed up again against a brutal Bulldog punt team. A second blocked punt and Tamer had green in front of him for 6 and he took it in with a bit of a fight. This man was a force all game and seems to be leading the O out of its siesta. He was a great leader on the sidelines and by example. The Cats O got going in the 4th but penalties eliminated some great TD efforts and they had to settle for a single on a missed FG attempt. So we win 25-10 and need a win against the big boys over the balance of the sched but we deserve to think we can get it. Offense...get going!!!

Varsity Loses Back and Forth Affair to Oshawa [June 27, 2004]
While this was not a must win it was an important one and the Cats came out strong with a pass over the middle to Gerring. They would  open the scoring when a tipped pass from new QB Ryan Clutterbuck dropped into the hands of an alert Cameron Worsley. The Hawkeyes then came out and drove through thenheart of thenCat D for a score of their own. get used to this. The Cats came out again and while a drive was stopped due to the penalty issue, the Clutterbuck-Clarke  express began to roll with Ricky clearly outclassing the coverage for several long first down grabs. They continued to press and would take a 14-7 lead with a strong dive by RB Simon Hall Jr. But the lead did not hold again as just before the half Oshawa scored on a counter roll around the left side to take a half time lead 15-14. The Cats came out strong in the 3rd with the O clicking. After driving to the Hawkeyes 35 with 2 firsts by junior and a pass to Mizerski, Ricky took a pitch around the left side and left everyone in the dust and a Wildcats 20-15 lead. Then things started to get strange. Again the Hawkeyes drove right at the heart of the Wildcats D to take the lead 22-20. This time the O could not respond and on the next Oshawa series they scored again to take a 29-20 lead. After the D held the Hawkeyes to 4th ands short and a punt, we fumbled the return giving them an easy score and a 36-20 lead deep into the 4th. It seemed our backs were broken when with under 4 minutes left we blocked a FG attempt and Cleon Holmes returned it for a TD. With the score 36-26, ioannides kicked beauty short kick to the left, but the Hawkeye who received the ball went untouched for another score. Over right? When the V'Cats got the ball again with less then 70 seconds left a planned play had Rejesh Ramchariter as QB who through a duck deep in the air. The only one who wanted was Ricky Clarke who pranced his way to the end zone for our final score. Make the final 4

Juniors Beaten by Myers 39-7 [June 21, 2004]

and beat ourselves off the field. It is a shame when actions off the field and the affect they had on the field become the game story. Details are not important but the Wildcats juniors underachieved yesterday in a 39-7 loss for many reasons. Ottawa is a great football team. Im sure we took some stupid penalties. We may have misexecuted at times. But if you come into a game "unprepared" because of your own actions before the game you eliminate your teams chances of winning and defeat the purpose of game preparation and coaching. There were some highlights such as the Shrubb to Kacmarcyk TD, the blocked punt by Tamer and a beauty screen pass to Tamer. We had some injuries including a scary injury to John Weir and Brandon Smith. John is doing fine but Smith is out for 2 weeks. Think about this juniors. 

V'Cats Come Alive in Win over Huronia [July 2, 2004]
Varsity came in to this one a bit angry after 3 straight losses and were feeling the pressure of a playoff fight that could go down to the wire. And fight they did. Despite a gritty effort by the Huronia O early the defense used a bend but don't break style to give the Offense the ball. On one occasion after QB Ryan Clutterbuck was blindsided and turned over the ball deep in our own zone the D forced the Stallions to put up a FG attempt which sailed wide. On another occasion the visitors FG hit the crossbar and went wide again. When the O did get rolling it was the pass attack that took over. Clutter showed impressive poise in the pocket while varying his targets. Ricky was drawing the attention of the Stallion secondary in a big way which would prove to be the Stallion downfall...they opened themselves up to the wrath of Robin Legault who scored the first 2 Wildcats TDs in the 2nd quarter. On defense, A Train Anthony Thomas was on fire making several solos and tossing around the Stallion RB's like rag dolls. The Cats had the momentum going into the third quarter leading 13-0 but Huronia found a kink in the  armour...the short kickoff. After tipping their first KO out of bounds they steamrolled the Wildcats TD for their first score. Then they did it again on the next kickoff and the Cat O watched as the D gave up another 6 on a long drive that kept the Wildcats O off the field for almost 12 minutes in the 3rd quarter and gave the visitors a 14-13 lead. Key play in that drive was a 120 yard Edison Cerda pickoff for an apparent TD that was called back because we lined up in the neutral zone. But when he O got on the field the air attack was set aside for the powerful running of Alistair Blair. This guy was an unstoppable beast and single handedly carried the Wildcats on his back and into the lead early in the 4th on a short dive over the right side. Having regained the momentum and a 19-14 lead, the defense lead by A Train, Almeida and Kovshoff shut down the Huronia O which began to take some ill advised penalties. On the Cats next series, Clutterbuck hit Legault in full stride on what may be the prettiest pass/catch/run in Wildcats history for a 26-14 lead. The Offense would get the ball again with under 5 minutes left under the helm of George Gretes. He looked sharp with a solid strike to Legault and a drive that took the Cats to the Stallion red zone. Unfortunately, RB Michael Cruikshank lost the ball on the Stallion 3 and a sure score was missed. Nonehteless, the final was a solid 26-14 win for the V'Cats. Of note: we took less penalties in the entire game tonight than we did in the 4th quarter vs Oshawa. 3 to go!

Juniors Show Grit Despite loss to Twin Cities [June 26, 2004]
The J'Cats had their second "home" game of the season today at Mississauga valleys against a highly motivated squad from Twin Cities (Kitchener-Waterloo). They showed it by jumping all over the Cats for two TDs on their opening two drives aided by great field position and two quick 4 and outs by the Cats offence. But the offense then began to drive the ball slowly but surely behind the efforts of QB Shrubb, RB Tamer and WR Weir to the point that they had the ball in the Predator's red zone at the end of the first half, only to have the drive snuffed by a pick. A strong half time coaching effort had the team prepared for the 3rd quarter and after forcing the visitors to turn the ball over on downs the Cats drove down the field with precision passes from Shrubb to several receivers and some tough running by Tamer. Tamer took it in with a great counter around the left end. Sikorski converted and the Cats were down 14-7 mid third. The D then really tightened up, sealing off once available gaps to the Pred O and roughing up their QB. Near the end of the third the O took over again, drove the field effortlessly and after DeGrasse went over the top a la Walter Payton, the Cats looked to tie. But the snap was bobbled and the score stood at 14-13 to begin the fourth. Then the D took over again behind Adetuyi, Cappiello and Bedroysyan and after bending a bit forced the Predators to 4th and short. Their QB tried to sneak the ball and was clearly stopped short, but the Cats took a bad facemasking call which extended the visitors momentum. The ultimate result was a twin Cities score on that counter they ran all day. The Cats next O series was a killer because on 1st the snap was fumbled, on 2nd a first down pass was dropped and 3rd we were stopped. We punted away and a valiant effort was over. The final was 21-13 for Twin Cities. Nice effort today boys!

V'Cats Win Big but Officials Steal the Show [July 17, 2004]
55 for almost 500 yards. Must be the Wildcats Offensive stats on a day when our boys beat a building Sudbury Northerner team today 34-6...right? Or was it the combined yardage of the two teams? Could be on a good day but actually it was neither. It was the almost inconceivable number of plays penalized and the associated yardage  counted against both teams by the officials in a brutally strung out game that lasted over three and a half hours today. And this was not a chippy game! During this comedy when actual uninterrupted play and momentum building  was destroyed by flag throwing, interruption, consultation and explanation, the V Cats were able to sneak in several impressive efforts, such as two of  Ricky Clarke's in the  first half where he returned a punt around the right side for a 57 yard TD (see pic at right)  and his sensational snare of a slightly off Clutterbuck (12 of 23, 266) fade for a TD. Legault (5 rec 139yds) was at it again as well with two nice grabs to set up the second of Ricky's TD's. The defense too swarmed the Northerner O and pinned them deep time after time, leading to a voluntary safety by the home team and a strangely unsatisfying 15-0 half time lead. Coaches and players alike, probably on both sides, hoped that the half time break might breath new life into the game and that the fans would see some flow to the game either way. It turned out to be wishful thinking as  the red flags went flying. Both teams were hit with an inordinate number of  neutral zone infractions, time count violations and offsetting off-sides (?). For either team to score it had to be on big plays where with luck a flag would not be thrown. For us it was Allistair's (9 c, 109 yds) 40  yard run mid way through the third (top left). Then it was a three play drive capped off by a Rajesh plunge for a TD in the fourth. For them it was a bomb late in the fourth that somehow got behind the coverage. Other players on O that made an impact were Rc's Cameron Worsley (3rec, 48 yds), Ryan Hinds (2 rec 36 yds, 2KR for 18 yds) and George Gretes (4 of 7, 57 yds). That Gretes to Hinds duo is  something to look forward to in the future. Testimony to how well the D played was the fact that mixed up in all this were 3 safety's forcibly given up by the Sudbury offense and a single scored when Sudbury had a player ejected and then took a bench penalty leaving the Cats kicking off from deep in the Northerner zone. While the defense as a unit outmatched the home team's offense, A Train (10 points) was all over the field again, Kovshoff (12.5 points, 2 sacks) was in the QB's face all day, Faria (12 points, 2 sacks) was tough up the middle and Cerda (11 points)  had 2 pics. The description of the game matched its disjointed and frustrating flow. Any accurate assessment of how good we were or how much they struggled is impossible except  by breaking down the video. The win was deserved but both teams and the fans deserved better.

Juniors Work Hard, Come Up Short [July 4,2004]
Home wasn't so sweet for the J'Cats today as the visiting Panthers from Wentworth won the battle of the cats 28-8 in front of a supportive home crowd at Birchmount Stadium. It looked promising early on as the visitors had trouble against a determined J'Cat defense led by Sriskandarajah, Adetuyi and Scott. Unfortunately the offense did not have as good a start and on another Panther series late in the first they found a seam over the middle and completed a long 3rd down pass for the opening score. The PAT was missed and the score after one Q was 6-0 Wentworth. Wentworth went up 13-0 mid way through the 2nd after a long drive and we gave up a single on a FG miss. With the visitors now up 14-0 and the Cats O on our 25, the shotgun snap sailed over Shrubb's head and was picked up by Wentworth inside our 5 yard line. The D tried but couldn't keep the Panthers out of the end zone and the visitors took a 21-0 lead into the half. The boys came out hungry in the 3rd quarter and battled tooth and nail to a stalemate. On one Panther offensive series, Matt Adetuyi picked off a pass and almost broke it for a TD but was stopped inside the visitor's end. But again the O could not capitalize and turned the ball over to Wentworth. The Wildcats D had Wentworth pinned in their end and  Jamal George came up with a great 2nd down pick that he took to paydirt. We then converted for two and were creeping back 21-8 in the fourth.  On third down with the Cats looking to hold, the Panther  QB heaved up a bomb down the sideline that somehow got behind our zone coverage for the final Wentworth score and the nail in the Wildcats coffin. The final was 28-8 but the group played hard, played injured and many played both ways. They may not have won the game but they earned a lot of respect today from those who watched.

J'Cats Crush Heavily Favoured Essex 42-13 [July 11, 2004]
Ask just about anyone coming into this game what chances the Metro Wildcats had against the playoff bound, Tipster favoured and highly regarded Essex Ravens and you might have seen a polite smirk and  gesture of hope that we at best keep it close. Well many are eating their words right now as our J'Cats took the game to the # 6 ranked Ravens early and often, pounding the visitors in just about every facet of the game. The defense was the key to the first half. On the Ravens first drive the JCats D drove them backwards and forced a 3 and out. The Offense then took the ball and after a controlled impressive drive scored on My Nguyens dive up the gut and the Cats held a 7-0 first quarter lead. After going back and forth for most of the second and with the  defense forced to defend their own zone for several series the Cats O needed to get across midfield and they did just that by unleashing  TE "J Train" Justene Edwards (#52 right) from the 20 yard line. Shrubb hit him with a short out and let him do the rest. The result was a 100 td catch and run that left several Raven defenders in his wake and eating grass. The 14-0 lead held until the last play of the first quarter when after a fumbled JCat handoff the Ravens took it in from the 2 yard line after a 30 yard drive but trailed the Cats 14-6. The 3rd quarter was all Wildcats. The defense was awesome again while the O struggled to get going. Deep in the Wildcats zone, Jamal George picked off a Raven pass and showed the poise of a running back by weaving through the opposition for 6. He probably ran 150 yards for that one. That's his 3rd pickoff TD this season!. After that the JCats O took over early in the 4th, perhaps realizing that the D had been on the field long enough. Once again in our own zone, Shrubb  hit Edwards on the 2nd level out and the 6'4 270 lb  behemoth rambled to his second TD after  another 75 TD catch and run. People you had to see this. Now up 28-6 and feeling more confident by the minute and with a rested defence, the Cats turned up the heat again after a D stop. Freddie King (#11 right) took a well setup reverse about 40 yards for another JCat TD. A few series later Jon Tamer took an off tackle  around the left side for the final TD and a 42-6 lead. The Ravens scratched out a score late but never even came close to mounting a serious threat and went home on the losing end of a 42-13 drubbing. The impressive aspect about this win besides the fact it was a huge upset was the play of the line, specifically the O-Line (see pic at left). These guys, most of which went both ways, were a tired bunch on a very hot day but to a man sucked it up in the face of very aggressive blitzing defense. We saw huge holes today for Tamar and Nguyen, and Shrubb enjoyed a lot more time to setup than in previous weeks. We also saw a guy like Vince Magri show very well after being slotted in on the D line late in the game. Hats off to the Hogs. Overall one of the most, if not THE most, impressive victories for the JV program ever. I would not want to be Limestone right now. Well done J'Cats!!