Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

In the nation’s capital on Saturday, September 27th, the Sault College Cougars stormed back from their bye week with authority, cruising to a decisive 52–6 win over the Ottawa Sooners in Ontario Football Conference action at Lees Field.
The Cougars, who entered the matchup in fourth place at 2–4, wasted no time setting the tone. At 11:03 of the opening quarter, Ethan Carchidi punched in a six-yard run to give Sault College a 7–0 lead following a Nik Vecchio conversion.

Vecchio, a St. Mary’s Knights alumnus, quickly became a central figure in the contest, adding three consecutive first-quarter field goals—two from 21 yards and one from 25 yards—to stretch the lead to 13–0.

Quarterback Gabe Barkley extended the advantage midway through the second quarter, connecting with Erron Beachy on a seven-yard pass that set up a five-yard scoring run. Vecchio stayed perfect on the extra point to make it 20–0. The veteran kicker continued to pile on, nailing two more field goals—25 and 36 yards—before ending the half with a 23-yarder as time expired. His dominant first-half performance left the Cougars with a commanding 29–0 lead.

Sault College’s ground game got rolling in the third, as Sam Mustaspha powered in a major at 6:26 to push the lead to 36–0. Ottawa finally broke through with 3:56 left in the quarter, when Dylan Allaire found Bryson Cheslock on a 24-yard strike that set up a three-yard touchdown run. The Cougars responded immediately, as Ottawa conceded a safety in the dying seconds of the quarter, extending the lead to 38–6.

The offense continued to shine in the fourth. Barkley connected with Jaidan Trudeau for a three-yard toss that turned into a 27-yard sprint to the end zone at 12:02, restoring the Cougars’ dominant margin. With just over two minutes remaining, Superior Heights Steelhawks graduate Daikaden Gauthier—given late reps at quarterback—capped the win with a 16-yard pass to Beachy, who carried it six more yards for his second touchdown of the game. Vecchio’s seventh conversion sealed a 52–6 triumph.

The victory marked Sault College’s third win of their inaugural season, improving their record to 3–4. Ottawa, meanwhile, dropped to 1–6 after suffering their second straight lopsided defeat.

Cougar quarterback Gabe Barkley told Saultsports that “it feels awesome to be back finally. Missing four games was hard just watching the guys battle and work hard wishing I could help. Overall it feels super great to be running around again, and for the win it feels great to get one back this week coming down on a long road trip but next week is the one that matters the most. We’re looking to punch our ticket into the playoffs and shock the league. Playing Quarterback again is a privilege, when a whole team trusts you and hands you the steering wheel to what we’re trying to accomplish, there’s no greater feeling. There are zero nerves during the game and even before because when we have a good week of practice and the whole team is bought in there’s nothing to be nervous about. We’re ready to role for whatever comes next.”

The guys have been working extremely hard over the last month and deserved better results than we have gotten recently. Today we unloaded a great deal of that built up frustration. The O-Line played great, our defense shut the door all day and out run game was the back bone of our offensive performance. Gabe Barkley, technically our fourth quarterback this season brought a calm to our group and played like a seasoned veteran showing great command of the offense,” said Sault College coach Paul Orazietti.

The Cougars now return home to close out their regular season on Saturday, October 4th, at Superior Heights Field in Sault Ste. Marie. They’ll face the Quinte Skyhawks (1–6) in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. In their only previous meeting back on August 16th, Sault College dominated the Skyhawks 43–0 in Belleville.