Bantam Bulldogs improve to 3-0

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The Valley bantam Bulldogs continued to roll in Nova Scotia minor football league action on the Sept. 20-21 weekend, improving to 3-0 on the season with a 35-0 win in Truro. The Bulldogs’ defense has allowed the opposition just five points in its first three games.

On the same weekend the atom Bulldogs picked up their first victory of the season, winning 40-6 over Truro. Meanwhile, the peewee Bulldogs dropped to 0-3 with a 22-0 defeat at the hands of the Truro peewee team.

The bantams had an outstanding performance from their defense in the win, which ended up being overshadowed by the 35 points from the offense.

Head coach Larry Priestnall said it was a total team effort on defense, “one of the better games I’ve seen us play defensively over the past couple of years. Truro is a good team,” he said, “but our defense didn’t allow them to move the ball.”

He made special mention of the defensive line of Jacob Gee, Andrew Jennings-Lindsay and Adam Melanson, who “played a fantastic game,” individually and as a unit.

Offensively, Brandon Patterson scored a pair of touchdowns and Iain MacMillan, quarterback Robert Adams and Alex McCarthy had one touchdown each. Mitch Getson successfully converted all five Valley touchdowns to round out the scoring.

Atoms put it all together

After losing their first two games, one of them in a jamboree, the atom Bulldogs, according to head coach David Ross, “put it all together” in a lopsided win over Truro.

Clay Hancock recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, Gabe Price-Morgan ran for a touchdown on Valley’s first play from scrimmage and the Bulldogs never trailed the entire game.

Quarterback Chase Hancock ran for one touchdown and passed for two others, and added one convert rushing and one passing.

Price-Morgan finished with a pair of touchdowns. Alex Hazel and Josh Willoughby had one touchdown each and Willoughby and Carter Davidson each added a convert.

Mike Ogilvie ran an interception back for a touchdown to round out the Valley scoring. Matt Priestnall and Isiah Crossland-Belle (on the final play of the game) also had interceptions for the Bulldogs, who recovered a pair of fumbles.

Though there were individual heroics, Ross said everybody played very well and the team effort was one of the keys to the victory. “We were able to move the ball up and down the field,” led in part by lineman Jacob Melanson, “who did a great job blocking.”



Peewees continue to learn, improve

Meanwhile, the peewee Bulldogs, says head coach Steve Melanson, “continue to learn and improve,” though they are still looking for their first win of the season entering play this weekend in Port Hawkesbury.

“We continue to be a work in progress,” Melanson said of his team, which has just two returning players from last season on the roster, “but we’re getting better all the time.”

All three Valley teams began the season with a series of road games, but starting with the atoms this weekend, can now look forward to playing most of the remainder of the season on their home field.

The complete 2008 schedule for all the Bulldogs teams is available on the Valley Bulldogs’ new-this-year website at www.valley-bulldogs.com.