"Buck takes over as Sooners coach"

The article below is from the Ottawa Sun and a few days old, but the RedBlacks were so active in free agency that I didn't get the chance to post it.  I don't want it to be missed, so here it is.

When John Buck was offered the opportunity to be the head coach of the Ottawa Sooners, he took a bit of time to think about it. 

But after talking with friend and fellow coach, Matt Kassner, he had no further second thoughts. 

"He just said to me, 'We've got to do this,'" said the 37-year-old Buck on Wednesday. "And I said, 'Yeah, you're right.' I didn't know if I would ever get this opportunity again. You have to jump through the door while it's open. I'm very excited. I've been a minor football guy since I started coaching in 1997 (with the Bell Warriors). 

He coached the Myers Riders bantams for 10 years and also worked with the South Carleton Storm high school team. Buck was committed to coaching with the Myers Riders junior varsity team this summer. 

"I wanted to make sure that was logistically still possible," said Buck, who will have Kassner on board as his defensive co-ordinator, former CFL offensive lineman Kyle Kirkwood as his offensive co-ordinator and Marc Bourgon as his offensive line coach with the Sooners. "We're all pretty pumped about this." 

The team, which plays in the Ontario Football Conference, hopes to benefit from the age-limit increase -- where players up to the age of 24 will be eligible to play.

The Sooners website goes into Buck's career a little more specifically, stating "Buck comes to the club after leading the Myers Riders Bantam NCAFA to 5 championships in the last 10 years."  They also go into greater depth in regards to the assistants named above.

MATT KASSNER – Defensive Coordinator
Myers Riders OVFL Jr Varsity - 2012 – Present
Offensive Assistant – uOttawa Gee Gees - 2012-2013

KYLE KIRKWOOD – Offensive Coordinator
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA - Offensive Line Coach/Run game Coordinator (2012)
MYERS RIDERS OVFL - JV Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs & Quarterbacks coach (2013)
Former Offensive Lineman with the BC Lions

MARC BOURGON – Offensive Line Coach
2003-13 NCAFA Bantam Myers Riders
2005 OVFL Senior Varsity Ottawa Myers Riders
Played for the Carleton Ravens

JONATHAN FERGUSON – Defensive Backs Coach
Myers Riders OVFL Junior Varsity - Defensive Backs Coach - 2013
Bell Warriors NCAFA - Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Backs Coach - 2008 - 2013

Ottawa Jr Riders (1997-2013)

I am quite surprised to be writing this post.  Amateur teams come and go (actually, in Ottawa, pro teams have come and gone as well) but I never expected the Ottawa Jr Riders to fold, as I was told on Twitter about a week ago.

The Jr. Riders have been as successful an on-field team as any other in this city.  Aside from a brief, difficult period in the Ontario Football Conference, they owned the Quebec Junior Football League for a number of years.

They were originally born as the Gloucester Redskins in 1995 but changed their name following the acquisition of some of the Rough Riders equipment when that team folded.  They took no time getting acclimated to the QJFL, participating in that league's championship game every year from 1997 to 2010 (broken up by the previously-mentioned stint in the OFC).  Their games against in-town rival Ottawa Sooners were typically close, hard-fought affairs with significant implications.  They also had an exciting rivalry with the Chateauguay Raiders.

So we'll record their accomplishments here with fingers firmly crossed that the the Jr. Riders are not dead, merely temporarily dormant.

Coaching History
Max Palladino (2010-2013)
Luigi Costanzo (2004-2009)
Andy McEvoy (2003)
Dan Murphy (1999-2002)
Dean Dorsey (1997-1998)

Results
2013:  6-2
2012:  6-2, Lost Joe Pistilli Cup to the North Shore Sabercats 34-52
2011:  7-1
2010: 10-0, Won Joe Pistilli Cup against the Chateauguay Raiders 10-00
2009:  7-1, Lost Manson Cup against the Chateauguay Raiders 19-20 
2008:  7-1, Won Manson Cup against the Chateauguay Raiders 63-16
2007:  7-1, Won Manson Cup against the Ottawa Sooners 29-27 
2006:  7-1, Won Manson Cup against the Chateauguay Raiders 19-02  
2005:  2-6, 
2004:  2-6, 
2003:  0-8, 
2002:  1-7, 
2001: 6-1-1, Lost Manson Cup to the Ottawa Sooners 17-18
2000:  6-2, Won Manson Cup against the North Shore Broncos 28-22
1999:  8-0, Won Manson Cup against the Chateauguay Raiders 33-09
1998:  6-2, Won Manson Cup against the Chateauguay Raiders 24-09
1997:  6-4, Lost Manson Cup to the Ottawa Sooners 07-13

2013 Ottawa Sooners All-Stars

The Ontario Football Conference named its All-Star Team last week and the following Ottawa Sooners made the cut!

57 Stéphane Tanguay (OL)
64 Noah Domingue (OL)
4 Mathew Mondoux (RB)
10 Steve Dignard (DL)
23 Cody Valle (DB)

Dignard was also named the Conference's defensive lineman of the year, no doubt in large part due to his 10.5 quarterback sacks.  He had an additional 7.5 tackles and recovered a pair of fumbles.

Mondoux gained 807 yards on 101 carries and reached the endzone five times.  He was named the Conference's Offensive Player of the Week in week four on the strength of a 129-yard rushing game in a come-from-behind victory over the Hamilton Hurricanes.

Valle had four interceptions on the year on which he recorded 128 return yards and a score.  He also scored on one of his two fumble recoveries.

Article: "Sooners win thanks to Braves miscues"

The Ottawa Sooners had started their 2013 season with three straight losses, including two at home.  This past Saturday, they travelled to Burlington and notched their first victory.  The article below is by Kevin Nagel for thespec.com.

Hamilton - Here’s how the Ottawa Sooners scored their points in a 29-13 Ontario Football Conference victory over the  Burlington Braves at Nelson Stadium on Saturday night.

• Running back Carl Bernade scores on a one-yard run after his fumble on the preceding play, recovered by Burlington, was wiped out by a Braves offside penalty.

• Quinton Soares kicks a 15-yard field goal following an interception by Sooners’ John Skubic on a pass from Braves quarterback Mickey Trumper .

• Bernade scores his second TD on a six-yard run five plays after teammate Chad Grimonte blocks a punt by Braves’ Mark Milan that gives the Sooners the ball at the Braves 15 yard line.

• Soares kicks a 39-yard field goal after Trumper fumbles the ball at Braves’ 30-yard line.

• Soares kicks another field goal three plays after a Burlington penalty on a punt from the Braves’ own 16-yard-line results puts the ball on the Burlington 19.

The points on Braves miscues gave the Sooners a 22-7 fourth quarter lead, which they extended with a clock-eating drive culminating in another short Bernade TD run. It was the team’s first win of the Ontario Football Conference season.

It ties the Sooners with the Braves, also 1-3, in league standings.

“This was huge,” sighed Ottawa Sooners coach Matt Murfitt, whose team is 70 per cent first-year juniors. “We know we have Hamilton next week and that’s a tough game so we had to get the W tonight. We’ve been playing well but we just haven’t been able to finish. Tonight we were able to hang in there.”

Game stats suggest the Braves could have been a lot closer, or ahead of the Sooners, in points, with more disciplined play. The Braves gained 287 yards of net offence, 59 yards more than Ottawa.

Down 16-0 at the half, the Braves finally got on the board when Trumper recovered from an early snap that him when he wasn’t looking. The surprised QB quickly gathered up the ball and found Tyler Bistrovich in the endzone for a nine-yard touchdown, Mark Milan converting.

Braves coach Kelly Hughes inserted Mark Divito in at quarterback late in the game and he hit Cyrlin Cadete for a 15-yard major against a Sooners team in a prevent defence. Still Divito was 6-for-6 for 72 yards. The TD, followed by an unsuccessful two-point convert attempt, narrowed the Sooners’ lead to 16 points with only 1:52 remaining. Burlington would get the ball again but ran out of downs and time at midfield.

Notes

• Nelson High School graduate Graham Kelly saw limited action at quarterback for the Sooners. He has split playing time with Matthew Levasseur this year but is still learning the ropes, according to Murfitt.

“Both quarterbacks are having a little trouble adjusting to the speed of the game at this level,” said the Ottawa coach. “It’s a steeper learning curve for Graham. He’s got the size. He just has to settle down and play football.”

Kelly, six-foot-seven and 250 pounds, played the entire game against Windsor and split time with Levasseur in the team’s opening game. Despite the limited action in his hometown, it was a thrill for him.

“Definitely on the ride here I was super-excited,” he said. “I only played about 10 per cent (last game) and the same tonight. It’s a team decision. You have to keep your head up and you gotta keep fighting in practice.”

Kelly, who is attending Algonquin College in Ottawa, also handles the team’s punting and kickoff duties, punting seven times and averaging just under 40 yards against the Braves.