The Ottawa Invaders looked to be in mid season form for their home opener against the Sudbury Spartans on Saturday June 2. In Ottawa’s second showing this season, the team gave home town fans plenty to cheer about on their way to a 44-7 victory.
Early and often appeared to be the mantra on the bench for the Ottawa Invaders as Jeff Hildreth [Bishop’s University] completed 6 of 12 passes in the first quarter and punched in a touchdown from 3 yards out. Hildreth was hurt on the play however and was forced to leave the game with an upper body injury.
Hildreth’s injury gave Ottawa’s depth a chance to shine, especially 16-year-old Mathew Duffy who stepped in at quarterback. Duffy is one Ottawa’s “project players”, and performed remarkably for the team in his three quarters of action, completing 4 of his 10 attempts.
Despite being penalized 14 times for 132 yards, the NFC powerhouses still managed 331 total yards on offense to Sudbury’s 110. Major contributions to Ottawa’s incredible outing came from Ray Alidu who had 3 receptions for 145 yards and kicker Jeff Morris who had a 5 point night including a 37 yard field goal in the third.
Much of the Invaders success came from the ground game as well, where they were led by TJ Williams [Mount Allison University] who had 70 yards on 9 carries. All 6 of Ottawa’s touchdowns came on the ground including scores from; Curtis Cates , Adam Gourgon, Joe Doherty, Shenfield Excellent and Thomas Shaw who came up huge with a 60 yard interception return
Defensively the Ottawa Invaders were solid as well, which enabled them to keep a commanding lead throughout game. Michael LaFond and Ricky Audin led the team with four tackles each.
The Invaders are hoping to feed off the success of this game and push their record to 2-1 when thy host the Toronto Raiders. Kickoff is at Keith Harris Saturday June 16 at 7 pm.
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
