“It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.”—Sun Tzu, The Art of War
After suffering a disappointing, yet hard-fought loss last weekend against the Hamilton Ironmen, the Niagara Bantam Spears (the reigning OVFL Champions) were absolutely determined to win the season home opener on their brand new field against the always dangerous, Brantford Bisons.
And win they did.
After the game, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a few minutes on the field with Head Coach, Rich Vujasic.
James Ryan: Hi Coach, great game out there today. Congratulations on the win. Overall, how would you say things went out there today?
Coach Rich Vujasic: I think we did really well. We blocked really well, and the Offensive Line had a good push. We made some tiny mistakes, but we’re working in the right direction.
JR: Terrific. And how did you feel about the performances of your two Quarterbacks today, particularly Colton Jones who played in his first game this season since being injured?
CRV: It’s good to have two really good athletes at the Quarterback position. We have somebody that we’re going to get back again next year with Denver Jones, who I thought played really well today, and it’s great to have Colton Jones back in the line-up, as he brings a little bit more to the table. It’s great to have both pair there.
JR: Awesome. Any final thoughts on where you go from here as far as preparation for next week?
CRV: Basically, it’s back to fundamentals as a big part of our game. We’ll go right back to the drawing board and start with fundamentals and a lot of hard work.
JR: Sounds good. Thanks for your time Coach.
CRV: My pleasure.
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I have to completely agree with the Coach. It’s always great in football when you can rely on a really strong Quarterback—having two at your disposal is even better.
And in case you missed it, please enjoy the Play-by-Play action listed below in a game that will forever be remembered by me as: “Twitter Gate.”
Go Spears!
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Date: Saturday June 4, 2011
Location: Kiwanis Field, St. Catharines, Ontario
Weather Conditions: Cool with a mix of cloud and sun
Final Score: Spears 32, Bisons 13
Season Record: 1-1
Bantam game today at 4pm (Kiwanis Field, St. Catharines), let’s hope that the thunder storm goes away! Follow the game on Twitter
Bantam game starts in 45 minutes!!! Don’t miss out!
30 minutes until game time, the weather is starting to really improve, the sun is out!! Perfect day for a football game!
Niagara Bantam Spears Home Opener vs the Brantford Bisons starts in 10 minutes
It’s go time!!! Let’s go Spears!!!
First Quarter: Bisons kick
Bisons kickoff, Spears #31 Rushon Dagelman runs it back 20 yards, Spears ball on their own 46 yard line
Big breakout run by Spears #24 Cam MacDonald, ball on the Bisons 43 yard line
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald picks up 6 yards, 2nd down
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald runs down to the Bisons 7 yard line, 1st and goal
Touchdown Spears!! by #24 Cam MacDonald, extra point hits the lower cross bar, 6-0 Spears lead!! Great start fellas!!
Tackle by Spears #36 Atreyu Godard on kickoff, Bisons ball on their own 45 yard line
Spears #53 Cole Goertz with a huge tackle on the sweep, Bisons lose 4 yards
2nd down Bisons, big run up the middle, 1st down Bisons at midfield
Great tackling by Spears Defense
Great stop by the Spears Defense, 4th and 3, Bisons are going for it
1st down Bisons, very close, ball on the Spears 40 yard line
Bisons are chipping away up the middle
Spears #55 Jordan Mason playing good heads up football, refuses to get involved in a shoving match with Bisons player, great show of discipline
Bisons miss the long pass, 4th and 5 on the Spears 35 yard line
Spears Defense stuffs the middle run, turnover on downs, 1st down Spears on their own 35 yard line
Flag on Spears, fumble, recovered by Bisons on Spears 34 yard line, ouch!
Spears players #53 Cole Goertz and #66 Kyle Kassay with a huge tackle on the Bisons RB, 2nd down, missed pass, 3rd down, #66 Kyle Kassay with a huge blocked pass, 4th and 11
Second Quarter
4th down Bisons on the Spears 35 yard line, 4th down punt, flag on return, Bisons penalty, ball moved up to the Spears 26 yard line, 1st down Spears
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald with a huge run all the way down for the touchdown!!!! Extra point on hold, Spears call timeout, 12-0 Spears
Good to see Coach Kent Risko in the stands
My cell phone is freezing up again, the extra point was no good and the Bisons just went 3 and out, punted on 4th down
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald slipped and fell on the return
Quick! Somebody bring William Vanderland (the photographer) a corned beef on rye!! lol
Spears 5 yard penalty on punt, repeat 4th down Bisons on Spears 48 yard line
Huge tackle by Spears #94 Oakleigh Canning for a Bisons loss, turnover on downs, Spears ball on their own 50 yard line
Phone constantly freezing up!! Grrrrrr, can’t keep up to the plays
Incoming text message…my son wants to know how much pizza costs lol No idea buddy! Stop texting me!!! It freezes up the Twitter lol
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald is stopped, flag on the play, Spears penalty, declined by Bisons, 4th and long Spears on their own 45 yard line
Spears pass is intercepted by Bisons, runs it all the way back for a touchdown, extra point is good, 12-7 Spears
Bisons kick, Spears fumble on return but recover on their own 29 yard line
Spears QB #4 Denver Jones is hit for a loss of 6 yards, stuffed on 2nd down, 3rd and 15 Spears on their own 45 yard line
1st down Spears, 5 minutes left in the first half, 2nd down and 4
Flag on the play, Spears sent 10 yards back, 2nd and 15 Spears
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald with gain of 6 yards, 3rd down is big!! 1st down Spears at midfield
2 minutes left in the first half, it’s starting to look cloudy again
Short gain, 2nd down Spears, timeout Bisons
Another short gain up the middle, 3rd and 1 Spears on the Bisons 46 yard line, Bisons player injured on the field
Bisons player walks off, hopefully he’s okay
Another 1st down run by the Spears, ball on the Bisons 39 yard line, 2nd and inches
1st down Spears!!!
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald lowers his head perfectly and drives for another 1st down
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald does it again for the touchdown!!! Awesome!!
Extra 2 point conversion connects with the wide receiver but he’s short of the goal line, 18-7 Spears!!! 1:00 minute left in the first half
Bisons ball on their own 43 yard line
Spears #43 Cameron Celetti intercepts the ball and runs it all the way down into the endzone, flag on the play, Spears get the ball back on the Bisons 16 yard line, no touchdown, 0:39 left in the half
Touchdown by Spears #24 Cam MacDonald!!!!! Extra 2 point conversion is good, great catch by #83 Lukas Brennan!
Halftime
Spears 26, Bisons 7
Great game so far, the best part is that I haven’t had to listen to the Bisons parents with those annoying airhorns lol
Just got some cool pictures of the huddle at the half
Here we go football fans!! Grab your popcorn, the second half is about to get underway!!
Third Quarter: Spears kick
Spears players #50 Latrell Harris, #87 Nate Crowhurst, and #24 Cam MacDonald make the tackle and drive the returner out of bounds at the Bisons 42 yard line
Sorry, phone freezing up again, Bisons shut down by the Spears Defense and are forced to punt the ball on 4th down
Spears ball on their own 35 yard line, nice short gain up the middle by #24 Cam MacDonald, 2nd down and 4
First down Spears on their own 47 yard line
Cool breeze is coming in, let’s hope the rain holds off
3rd down Spears at midfield, need 3 yards for the 1st down
Spears #24 Cam MacDonald runs up the middle for 1st down on the Bisons 50 yard line
Wow, the Bisons parents are apparently accusing me of texting secret spy messages back to the Spears bench lmao
I guess they figure that’s the only way that our boys could possibly defeat them
After publicly addressing the crowd and explaining to the referee that I was simply using Twitter to provide Play-by-Play action on the Spears website in order to create articles such as this, I was called a liar by a few of the Bisons parents and had to leave the sidelines
Also, apparently the arm shrug that I motioned back to my son on the Spears bench (re: the cost of pizza) was some secret spy signal, wow!! lol
Believe it or not, in all of the chaos, the officials actually stopped the game!! On a more serious note: that’s pretty embarrassing!
Much harder to see the action now from the Spears bench, sorry folks, this has really taken me by surprise
Spears touchdown!!! (sorry I missed the play), new score is Spears 32, Bisons 13
New Spears QB #3 Colton Jones runs 25 yards, sets up the 1st down from the Bisons 25 yard line
Spears #43 Cameron Celetti is hurt on the field, walks off okay though
1st down Bisons, Spears with huge tackle on the next play, 2nd and long Bisons on the Spears 45 yard line, flag on the play, offside Bisons
Spy Gate lol More like Twitter Gate!!!
Huge gang tackle up the middle by the Spears Defense!! 3rd down and long Bisons
4th and long Bisons, punting, Spears recover a very sideways kick at midfield
Fourth Quarter
Spears ball, 2nd and 12 from their own 46 yard line
Good run up the middle by Spears #34 Michael Domanico
1st down Spears on the Bisons 45 yard line
Flag on the play, 5 yards against the Spears, repeat 2nd down on the Bisons 44 yard line
Spears #34 Michael Domanico with a great run up the middle, 3rd and 3
4th down Spears, going for it!!
Great try guys!! Turnover on downs, Bisons ball on their own 36 yard line
Spears #17 Anthony Carbone makes an awesome tackle while still trying to fasten his helmet on lol Great tackle Anthony!!!
2nd down and 8, Bisons at midfield
4th and long Bisons, punting, Spears #24 Cam MacDonald runs it back to midfield
Flag on the play, Bisons repeat the punt, no gain on return, penalty flag against the Bisons?
No success on the first 2 downs by the Spears
3rd and long Spears at around their own 35 yard line, 4th and 6, Spears will punt
Messed snap, Bisons get the ball on the Spears 9 yard line
2nd and goal Bisons, no success, 3rd and goal
Spears #66 Kyle Kassay injured on the field from a low block, helped off the field, he’ll be okay though, he’s tough as nails
Great goal line stand so far by Spears, 4th and goal Bisons
STUFFED!!!!!!! Turnover on downs!!! Awesome job by the Spears Defense!!! Great team effort!
Spears ball on their own 5 yard line, 0:25 left in the game
Spears take a knee to run out the clock, game over, Spears win!!!!
Final score: Niagara Spears 32, Brantford Bisons 13
Thanks for tuning in for the Niagara Bantam Spears Twitter Play-by-Play @niagaraspears
See you next Saturday in London at 11am
Also, HUGE congratulations to all 3 Spears teams (Bantam, JV, Varsity) for winning all of their home games this weekend!!!
Go Spears!!!
And sorry again for any misunderstanding with regards to the Twittering. As a professional writer, I’m just trying to do my best to help the Spears organization by promoting their games (and players) on the Internet. Nothing more.
“The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You’re there, listening to every word, but your main role is to simply observe. Everything is useful to a writer—every scrap.”—Graham Greene
Photos courtesy of William Vanderland
lol this makes reading fun =:)
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