Cumberland Panthers kick off the 2014 season this Saturday!

No one cares what I think about the possibility of a stoppage in play in the CFL, so I won't even address it.  Instead, I will direct my attention to those who want to play.

This Saturday, the three Cumberland Panther OVFL clubs face off against the Metro Toronto Wildcats.  The bantam, junior varsity and varsity games start at noon, 2:30PM and 5PM respectively.  Admission is $5 and all games will be played on field #2 at Millenium Park.

I was actually quite surprised to learn (or be reminded) that the Panthers' senior club was 0-8 last year.  They are normally far more competitive, but it may be that they happened to field  a fairly young team.  They are returning leading passer Thompson Richards (1348 yards, 10 passing touchdowns), leading tackler Will Karam (a linebacker with 43 in total, 32 of which were solo) and top receiver Brandon Smith (30 for 385 and eight scores).

Smith is joined by 2013 junior varsity all-star receiver Kurleigh Gittens who recorded 47 catches for 760 and five touchdowns at that level. He also averaged more than 13 yards on punt returns, including a score.

All Panther home games, as well as those of defending champs Myers Riders, are now listed at the middle right of the page.  The Panthers play at Millenium throughout the season, and the Riders usually play at Minto (Nepean Sportsplex) but I noticed that their June 28th match up against the Toronto Thunder is being held at Carleton.  The two teams have their annual head-to-head match-up on July 12th at Minto.

Looking forward to seeing things get underway!