Bantam Stallions gallop to win in season opener

NEWS RELEASE
HURONIA STALLIONS FOOTBALL CLUB
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VARSITY

The Huronia Stallions Varsity team lost a hard-fought 21-16 opening week game to the York Lions. The Stallions had a long touchdown run called back on the first series of the game and then coughed up a 109 yard interception return for a touchdown. They battled back to make the game close on a Justin Winn to Liam Harrison touchdown pass. Runningback Zachary Kuhn scored the other Stallions touchdown and worked for tough yards all game before exiting with an injury. 

The offence struggled to move the ball throughout the game including on their final series with under a minute remaining when they were stopped near midfield.  The Stallion Defence made some coverage errors in the first half that led to a long touchdown pass and another scoring drive but buckled down in the second half after making some schematic adjustments. 

Veteran Defensive Tackles Zach Willems and T.J. Pusey pressured the quarterback all game and both registered sacks. Rookie Defensive End Gavin Wallin in his first game at the position had an incredible debut performance consistently getting pressure on the quarterback off the edge.

The Defence shut York out in the second half and gave the team an opportunity to win the game. The Stallions will need a big performance this week against Peterborough to avoid an 0-2 start to the season.  
 
JUNIOR VARSITY 39-7

The Huronia Stallions Junior Varsity team showed their inexperience in a 39-7 loss to the York Lions in their first game of the season.  The Stallions were dominated on both sides of the ball. 

Offensively, the only highlight was a touchdown pass on a trick play where Wide Receiver Brayden Harkness caught a lateral pass and threw a touchdown pass to receiver Mark Arrizza. On defence, the Stallions were pushed around all game by the more physical and experienced York squad. The Stallions will look to rebound next week in the Cottage Cup against Peterborough.  

BANTAM

The Huronia Stallions Bantam team kickoff off their season with an impressive 34-26 victory over the York Lions.  The game was a seasaw affair that only ended when the Stallions defence thwarted a deep drive into their territory in the final minutes. Quarterback Will Howard had an outstanding game directing the offence.  Howard set the tone early with a rushing touchdown and also completed several passes to Wide Receiver Mackenzie Jackson. 

The Stallions Offensive Line led by Nolan Chambers dominated the line of scrimmage and opened holes for Running Backs Ethan Travis and Carter Barnard.  Travis had two rushing touchdowns and Barnard had the other score. Aiden McMaster rounding out the scoring by converting four PAT attempts. 

The Stallions were led on defence by Defensive Tackles Jake Sheppard, Gavin Hopper, and Elliott Barber as well as Linebackers Aaron Lavers and Ricky Perry.  The front seven shut down the inside run and generally controlled the line of scrimmage. Defensive Back Sean Deasy had several big tackles and anchored the secondary. The top defensive highlight was Lavers’ quarterback sack. The Stallions will look to improve to 2-0 on the season against Peterborough in the Cottage Cup.

COTTAGE CUP

This Sunday the Huronia Stallions host the Peterborough Wolverines where they will hope to recapture the Cottage Cup.  Each year the programs face off in a triple header matchup featuring the programs’ Bantam, Junior Varsity, and Varsity squads. 

The team that wins two or more of the three games takes home the Cup. This year’s showdown is this Sunday, June 3 at the Barrie Community Sports Complex in Midhurst with the Bantam kickoff at 11 a.m., Junior Varsity kickoff at 2 p.m. and Varsity kickoff at 6 p.m.

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