North Bay Bulldogs

Recap

With a chance at moving to secure a home playoff game the Bulldogs hosted the Cambridge Lions at Omischl on Saturday June 20, 2015 and need to perform well to overcome the Lions attack. Last year the Lions beat the Bulldogs by a lopsided score of 37 – 6. If the Dogs are able to pull out a win against the Lions, they would come 1 game away from securing a home playoff game, something no Varsity team from North Bay has every done before. In fact the last time North Bay Bulldogs Head Coach Marc Mathon was preparing for a home playoff game was 2002 when the Semi-Pro men’s Bulldogs team finished 3^rd in the NFC and hosted Toronto’s MegaCity Maddogs for a quarter final game.

The Dogs kicked off to the Lions to open the game and their defense were simply not able to slow down the Lions run game. It seemed like the Lions were very polished and attacked right away and took an early lead after a 80 yard drive of primarily run plays. After a point convert the Dogs were behind 8 – 0 seemingly without an answer for the Lions run game.

On the ensuing kickoff Bulldogs Josh Ahola returned the kick 22 yards to give the offense good field position. The Dogs offense got moving with a mix of passes to Jordan Carlson and a strong run game capped with QB Mason McGriskin scoring from 1 yard out to bring the Dogs to within 1.

The Lions returned the next kickoff to the 20 and continued with their strong run game attack and did not miss a beat. They found a weakness in the Dogs defense and were exploiting it, driving down and scoring again to take a 15-7 lead.

The Bulldogs offense with Ryan McColeman, Evan Desrosiers and Anthony St Jean combining or 62 yards of offense brought the Dogs to the Lions 28 yard line. On the next play QB Mason McGriskin connected with wide receiver Jon Warren for his first catch of the game and scored. Warren also kicked the PAT and the Dogs were keeping pace.

In the second quarter was all Bulldogs as the defense adjusted to shore up that weak spot and forced the Lions to punt. The Dogs offense kept churning out the yards. Despite moving the ball into the red zone the Bulldogs fumbled on the Lions 5 yard line then stopped the Lions offense again and drove down to the Lions 1 yard line….only to fumble again. The Lions took over on their 1 yd line and drove out, eventually being forced to punt. This time Evan Desrosiers returned it 10 yards catching the ball in traffic to set the Bulldogs up at midfield.

Carlson took a McGriskin pass for 8 yds to open that drive and Ryan McColeman and Anthony St Jean combined to bring the Bulldogs to the 41 yd line. McGriskin hit Warren for a 35 yard pass and run to set up a 1^st and goal from the 6. Behind a crushing block by Jon Warren, Evan Desrosiers scored on a run from 6 yards out to give the Dogs a 21 – 15 lead. On the next drive with less than 2 minutes left in the half the Lions opened up with some passing and run mix of plays. With just over a minute left Conor Doyle made a great play on a pass over the middle making drive killing interception. However, rather than giving the Bulldogs the ball on the Lions 45 yard line with plenty of time to score again, a roughing the passer penalty negated the interception and gave the ball back to the Lions at midfield. Driving down to the 28 yd line the Lions connected on a deep pass to their WR to score with seconds left on the clock to retake the lead at half 22 – 21.

To open the second half the Bulldogs drove to the Lions 35 yard line and fumbled the ball away again. The Lions put together a drive and extended their lead to 29 – 21. On the next drive the Bulldogs did not roll over and put together a series of short passes and runs capped by Anthony St Jean’s first score TD of the game and a 3^rd and 1 run that broke for 31 yards. Coach Mathon decided it was time to try to tie the game with a 2 point convert attempt, which was successful with Anthony St Jean taking it in.

At the beginning of the 4^th quarter the Lions grinded out a series of runs and broke one up the middle for 45 yard score to give the Lions the lead again. Disappointed but not discouraged the Bulldogs hit the field running again behind the tough running of Ryan McColeman including a breathtaking 23 yard run dragging Lions players down to the 4 yard line. This opened the path for Anthony St-Jean, behind the solid blocking of Griffin Assance-Goulais, Jordan Carlson and Evan Desrosiers to score from 4 yds out. The game was now tied at 36 with just over 2 minutes left in the game….heading for overtime.

The Lions worked their running game in an attempt to march down the field to consume time and hopefully give themselves a chance to win the game. Adjustments made at half time and in the 4^th to the defense seemed to work as the Dogs forced the Lions to punt again. This time Parker Raymond in to return the punt gave the fans plenty to cheer as he found his way to a 30 yard return setting up the offense at mid field. McColeman gained 8 yards on a run, then Evan Desrosier lost 3 yards on a great play by the Lions defense. On a 3^rd down at the Lions 44 yd line again with great blocking by the Offensive Line, Griffin Assance-Goulais, Carlson and Anthony St-Jean found a seam and took the ball in to score from 44 yards out to give the Dogs the 43 – 36 lead with less than a minute left in the game.

Again the Lions are trying to score late in the half. Driving down to the 30 yard line they had one more play to score. The pass attempt was deep and intercepted to end what was a very exciting game, to say the least. In the end the Dogs gained 518 yards on offense, breaking 500 yards for the second time in a row. Defensively, the Dogs will need to shore up the run defense as they will be facing the strong running game of the 1^st place Niagara Spears on July 4^th.