Maritime Football League
2009 Game Summaries

Week 3: June 13-14

Privateers humble Marshals in tackle football

Published in the Guardian on Monday June 15, 2009

MONCTON— It was over early. 

Published in the Times-Transcript on Monday June 15, 2009
Appeared on page B7

HALIFAX - Quarterback Donovan Boucher threw a pair of touchdown passes, Cody Hollohan came up with a big interception and the Riverview Mustangs defeated the Halifax Shockers 28-14 in Maritime Football League play here Saturday.

The Mustangs improved their record to 2-0. The Shockers dropped to 2-1.

Boucher connected with Shea Lenehan on a one-yard touchdown pass in the dying seconds of the first half to give Riverview a 14-7 lead at the break.

The Mustangs burned 12 minutes off the clock on their opening drive of the second half, finishing it off with a five-yard touchdown reception by Patrick Forbes from Boucher as the visitors extended their lead to two touchdowns.

The Shockers replied soon after, though, with AJ Tufford hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Livingston, to cut the lead to 21-14. Halifax marched down the field once again and came close to tying the game, but Hollohan made an interception on the one-yard line to prevent the score with six minutes remaining in the game.

Justin Savoie closed out the scoring, running in a major from 32 yards out in the final minutes, to secure the Riverview victory.

Steve Cormier also found the end zone for the Mustangs on a 22-yard first-quarter run while Matt Archibald kicked four converts in the win.

AJ Gallant and Dwayne Ells led the Riverview defence with two sacks each while Jon Forbes also had an interception.

Rick MacMahon returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown for Halifax.

Also Saturday, the Moncton Marshals were hammered 41-0 by the P.E.I. Privateers at Rocky Stone Memorial Field. The Marshals are 0-3.

Riverview hosts P.E.I. Saturday at Dobson Field at a time to be determined while Moncton visits Halifax Saturday at 1 p.m.

The host Longhorns got off to a rocky start Saturday, with Knights quarterback Vince Williams connecting for two TD passes on Dartmouth's first four possessions. Saint John had a safety and got a TD when running back Jordan Blizzard took a lateral from quarterback Reece Roche and threw to Justin Cavan for the score.

On Sunday, the Gladiators spoiled the Peter Murray Memorial Game thanks to rushing TDs from Andrew Hubbard and Andrew Hickey, and a 23-yard TD pass from Hickey to Jeff Taylor.

Wanderers coach Dave Grandy highlighted the defensive play of Scott Eatmon, Roger Muise and Tanner McDevitt as a positive. But he said his team, a perennial contender, is frustrated at its slow start.

"I don't even think we've lost three games in a season, let alone three in a row. We're a young team and it's taking some time to get clicking," Grandy said. "It's obviously disappointing for us. No one associated with our program right now is in a good state of mind."

Published in the Daily Gleaner on Monday June 15, 2009
Appeared on page B3

The results were mixed for Capital Area-based teams in Maritime senior football league action yesterday.

The Curves Lady Gladiators were 46-14 losers to the Moncton Vipers in their home opener at Leo Hayes High Field, dropping their seasonal mark to 1-1.

Meanwhile, the Capital Area DQ Gladiators improved to 2-1 on the season with a 22-0 victory over the winless Saint John Wanderers yesterday in the port city. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, however, wet weather forced postponement until yesterday.

A pair of rushing touchdowns by Justine Barter in the first quarter propelled the Vipers against the Lady Gladiators. Kristen Chatterton converted both scores, giving the Vipers a 16-0 lead after one quarter.

They increased that to 30-0 early in the second quarter when QB Jenny Miller found Chatterton in the end zone for a major and then found the end zone herself on a one-yard QB keeper.

Lady Gladiators QB Alex Black scored on a 10-yard run to put the Lady Glads on the board at the half. The Tiffany Ketchum convert made it 30-8 at the half.

Connie Timmons converted a long drive for the Lady Gladiators to begin the second half with a five yard touchdown run. The convert was missed and the score was 30-14 after three quarters.

The Vipers put it away in the final frame with long scoring runs by Barter and Tara Keohan. Chatterton converted both for the final margin of victory.

Lady Glads host Saint John Storm Saturday at Leo Hayes Field beginning at 5 o'clock.

In the men's game, the DQ Gladiators got solid play from quarterback Andrew Hickey who completed 15 of 25 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns as they stymied the Wanderers.

Jeff Taylor caught both of Hickey's scoring strikes and Hickey booted all three converts and added a single point in the final quarter.

Josh McArthur had 85 yards on 15 carries and also scored a touchdown. Cody Stewart accounted for the other point with a single coming via a punt.

The Gladiators host the Saint John Longhorns, also 2-1, at Chapman Field Friday night beginning at 8 o'clock.

Dartmouth Knights beat the Longhorns 40-9 on the weekend.

Other games saw P.E.I. rout Moncton Marshals 41-0 and two-time defending champion Riverview Mustangs improve to 3-0 with a 28-14 victory over the Halifax Shockers.

By Jon McNeill

SAINT JOHN - A shaky start to the 2009 Maritime Football League season has only fuelled the Saint John Wanderers' resolve to get back to their usual winning posture, says head coach Dave Grandy.

The Wanderers are 0-2 after a 20-0 whitewashing from Port City rival the Saint John Longhorns in week two. It was the first time in league history the Longhorns prevailed over the Wanderers.

"We're using that (loss) as motivation to help us get the ball rolling," Grandy said.

They'll have their chance tonight in an 8 p.m. start against the Capital Area Gladiators (1-1) at Millidgeville Field.

The Wanderers are the league's winningest team with three Maritime Bowls, but their performance so far this season doesn't reflect it. At this stage in 2008 they had outscored their opponents 98-0, compared to a 14-40 deficit this season.

"This is a transition time, where we've lost a lot of older veterans. We have the youth, but it's just taking a little longer than we'd hoped to gel with them," Grandy said.

He's looking to rookie quarterback Trevor Harrison to make some noise on the scoreboard tonight. The St. Malachy's product will replace veteran Jeremy McAuley, who broke his throwing finger in last week's match.

"After a full week of practices, we're expecting (Harrison) to come out of the gates in full force with more confidence," he said. Grandy said the team needs a win to start building momentum for the playoffs.

"This is a key game for us. I'm not saying it's a must win, but with our slow start it would spark the motivation for everybody and keep us going."

Meanwhile, the Longhorns are enjoying an unprecedented 2-0 kickoff to their 2009 season that's propelled them to No. 1 in the Western conference. They're looking to further cushion that lead after hosting the Dartmouth Knights (1-0) in a 7 p.m. start at Millidgeville Field Saturday.

But head coach Eric Sabean said his team isn't letting the early success go to their heads.

"The experienced guys are aware that getting ahead of themselves and getting too confident probably isn't a good thing. We've got a lot of tough games coming up," Sabean said.

He said his defensive line is ready to face the Knight's star quarterback Vince Williams, one of the league's best arms who can "really shoot the lights out."

"We want to shut down their passing game. That's their biggest threat to us," he said. For that, Sabean is counting on the heavy-hitting halfback Lee Maloney, who played for the UNBSJ Sea Wolves last season.

"We've only given up six points all year, so we've got a pretty strong crew back there," he said.

In other MFL action this weekend, the Riverview Mustangs (1-0) are in Halifax to face the Shockers (2-0), while the Moncton Marshals (0-2) host the P.E.I. Privateers (0-2).

It's the second week of Maritime Women's Football League action, with the Saint John Storm hosting the Halifax Xplosion (0-1) for a 4 p.m. start at Millidgeville Field Saturday.

The defending SupHer Bowl champs are 0-1 after losing 20-6 to the Moncton Vipers in the season opener. The Storm beat the Vipers in the final 24-14 last year.

Elsewhere in the MWFL, the Vipers (1-0) travel to Fredericton this weekend to face the Capital Area Gladiators (1-0).

Marshals have nightmare start to MFL season
Moncton plays home opener tomorrow against P.E.I.

By Neil Hodge

The Moncton Marshals hope better days lie ahead.

They're experiencing a nightmare start to the Maritime Football League season, but it's not so much their 0-2 record that's troubling. The dark cloud is the way they've been hammered in a pair of road games, falling 50-8 to the Dartmouth Knights and 42-0 to the Capital Area Gladiators of Fredericton.

"Well, they certainly haven't gone well,'' said Moncton linebacker Shane Mosher in assessing the first two games. "It's disappointing obviously. We've got some guys that are working hard. We're just not getting the results we want. We're pretty thin on talent.''

Moncton will play its home opener in the senior mens tackle league against the Prince Edward Island Privateers tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Rocky Stone Memorial Field.

P.E.I. is also 0-2, but both games have been close with the club getting outscored by an overall 31-15 total.

"All our guys better be ready to play,'' said Mosher. "We can't go into this game thinking it's going to be easier because they're also 0-2. We saw P.E.I. in the (pre-season) jamboree (tournament).

"I think they're a pretty good football team. Anyone who thinks this is going to be an easy game, I think they're going to be mistaken. I have a lot of respect for P.E.I. I hear they're improving and have some good things going on over there.''

Capital Area visits the Saint John Wanderers tonight to begin Week 3 of the regular season. In tomorrow's other games, the defending Maritime Bowl champion Riverview Mustangs visit the Halifax Shockers and the Saint John Longhorns host Dartmouth.

There's three undefeated clubs in the Eastern Conference: Halifax (2-0), Dartmouth (1-0) and Riverview (1-0). P.E.I. is in the basement at 0-2.

The Saint John Longhorns sit atop the Western Conference at 2-0 and Capital Area is runnerup at 1-1. Moncton and the Saint John Wanderers are both 0-2.

Moncton is 3-23 in the regular season and playoffs combined since the start of the 2006 campaign. The Marshals have only had 19 and 22 players show up for their first two games this season and with those type of numbers it's going to be extremely tough for them to reverse their fortunes.

The Marshals are still accepting new players. Anyone who's interested can show up to their practices on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at L'Odyssée High School.

"The guys who are committed are coming and they're working hard and they're doing what they can,'' said Mosher. "We just don't have enough bodies on our roster. We only have about 25 players so most of the guys we have are showing up.

"We do have a determined group that doesn't want to see the Marshals fold. There's nobody quitting. It's going to be a struggle for us, but we have a group of guys who are committed to see it through. Hopefully, we can find some more players.''